Wings
by MaximumRider99
Summary: Even though the world was saved, the flock will never know what it's like to be settled down. What happens when Ella's desire to have wings overtakes her concern for her and her friends' safety? On the other hand, can Max and Fang admit their feelings for each other amidst high school drama and other problems? Fax. Eggy. Mild T. Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

**The story will be written from four primary points of view: Max, Fang, Iggy, and Ella. However, some sections may be written in other characters' points of view. The points of view will be a little bit like a diary entry in each character's diary; many of the characters' thoughts and feelings will be written.**

**It takes place a few months after the end of Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. Itex just fell, and Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel moved to Dr. M's house to live. Before the beginning of the story, the flock had been living at Dr. M's for three months. **

**Even though Itex, the primary threat, fell, they still have several branches remaining, as strong as ever. Also, the School is back!**

**Also, saving the world doesn't make things any easier for our favorite bird couple, Fang and Max! Can they stay together through misunderstandings, indecision, and family issues?**

**The Flock, especially Iggy, loves Ella, but she resents their supernatural abilities. Can she live with what she has, or will she take crazy measures to get what she wants?**

**Read on to find out! I'll try to update weekly. If you have any criticism, questions, suggestions, or anything else, feel free to leave a review or PM me. I hope you all enjoy the story!**

**Note: The story is somewhat of a middle ground between AH High School stories and the series itself. Wings contains a lot more romance than anything JP would write. I did my best to write the story in his style, but I'm not him. I had to change a few elements here and there.**

**Another note: Even though the story is rated T, it is a very mild T. I was debating between K+ and T, but decided to take the safe road.**


	2. School

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR. JP does.**

* * *

**Max's POV**

Hi. My name is Max.

If you're reading this, you probably know who I am.

Anyways, my name is Max Ride, short for Maximum, and I'm 16 years old. Fang and Iggy, the two big boys, are 16 but younger than me. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel are 13, 10, and 8. They are my best friends who are supposed to follow me anywhere and do whatever I want. Though, lately, they've been growing up to the point of being able to think for themselves. We recently saved the world, so we're planning to take a few years off and stay at Dr. Martinez and Ella's, my mom and sister's, house in Arizona.

Enough with the introductions.

We're about to do something crazy.

And yes, crazy by our standards, so that's saying a lot.

We're applying for SCHOOL. Yes, you heard me, SCHOOL.

Before you yell at me for a false alarm, hear me out. School by our standards is a hi-tech lab full of evil scientists wearing dreaded white lab coats, not a bustling building full of smiling kids. At every school I've ever seen, I half-expected the teachers to morph into rabid scientists and the students to turn into failed genetic experiments.

So that's why I was completely and utterly blindsided by the news that Dr. Martinez (Maybe I should start calling her Mom. After all, I will be here for a while…) had signed us up for school.

The flock and I had just finished eating dinner. "Dessert, anyone?" asked Iggy, with a wide grin, already heading back towards the kitchen.

Dr. Martinez answered, "I have some ice cream at the top of the freezer. Remember the rules: two containers per person!"

A cheer erupted from Gazzy, Iggy, Ella, and Nudge spontaneously, "Yeah, baby!" shouted Gazzy, practically rocketing out of his seat. I wish he would launch that fast in life-or-death situations.

"And Nudge, I have something to speak with you about," said my mother.

Nudge turned around, an expression of horror on her face, "WHAT? But Iggy will eat all of the ice cream and he'll become fat! And I'll be super duper skinny and we're already so skinny because we fly so much and we'll both be out of shape and die! How would you like to deal with two dead-"

Dr. Martinez put on an grin evil enough to scare her own daughter, which apparently was enough to convince Nudge to shut up, "This is better than ice cream."

Nudge stepped backwards, clearly disappointed. "It had better be," she muttered under her breath as she followed Dr. Martinez to the living room.

Dr. Martinez sat down, "Okay, since you kids will be here for a few years, I have a proposal."

Nudge didn't even try to show interest, "Huh." That had to be the only one-word sentence she had said since our School days. Not schooldays, School days.

"Before you start complaining, let me show you what I have to offer," my mom said as she went to the bookshelf, lifted some books, and pulled out a two-dozen box of donuts.

Nudge immediately perked up. "ZOMG! Donuts are the best food in the world! They taste so good and smell so good and-"

Dr. Martinez held up her hand. She was smart to stop Nudge before she could get on a roll.

"They can all be yours, along with this box of makeup, if you do what I ask."

"SQUEEEEEE! I've always wanted hot pink eye shadow! What do you need?" squealed Nudge.

"Well, I don't have enough money to buy another house if Iggy and Gazzy blow this one up, so we're going to need something to fill you kids' time." She paused, as if considering something. "You guys are going to school. It's five minutes from here."

Nudge looked shocked. "SCHOOL! Has Max told you about what's happened to us at the School? They zapped me with electricity and messed up my hair!" She sounded legitimately devastated as she recalled the memory.

"Hold on. I'm sorry if you have something against schools, but I can assure you that the Tucson County Public Schools would never zap you with electricity. Plus, you've always wanted to know what a normal life would be, right?"

She had Nudge there. For the first time, Nudge hesitated before speaking. "Yeah….-"

"And normal kids go to school. Plus, would you like me to give these donuts to Iggy and Gazzy? I don't think you'd like to know what types of pranks they could pull with donuts as one of their materials." Dr. M smiled.

Nudge nodded her head no.

"Very well, then, all we need you to do now is convince Max to approve. Speaking of Max, don't tell her about the donuts. Or the rest for that matter."

Nudge shook her head, remembering the problem. "She'll never let us!"

Dr M. grinned, "That's where you come in. On my command, stare at Max with your, uh, Bambi eyes. She can never resist them."

Nudge slowly nodded, understating the plan.

Meanwhile, Fang, Iggy, Ella, Gazzy, Angel, and I were sitting at the table eating ice cream. Fang was glaring at me the whole time since I had taken the last mint chocolate chip carton. I was blushing, and he knew it. Wow, he was hot when he glared. I wondered if female Erasers (do they exist?) thought the same. I didn't blame them.

We weren't officially together, since we both couldn't seem to make up our minds about each other. We were practically siblings, since we grew up together, but things had shifted the past year or so. I stopped seeing him as a brother and best friend, and started to notice other parts of him. Like his beautiful, mysterious, eyes and his smile that makes my brain short-circuit.

I shook my head. How could a guy make me freeze by just looking at me? This couldn't be. I was the all-powerful Maximum Ride. When did I become a girly girl? This was really not g-

"MAAAX!" yelled Nudge, bursting into the room with my mom right behind her.

I quickly regained attention. I cursed myself silently for letting myself daydream about Fang.

"What is it, Nudge?"

"Your mom is so cool! We can be normal now! Well, except for the wings, but that's fine. We can hang out with normal kids and play sports and go to dances and b-" Iggy covered Nudge's mouth with his hand without even looking up. I couldn't help being surprised. From what we've fought, Nudge's motormouth was, by far, the hardest thing to stop. I don't get how a blind guy can stop it when I can't. As soon as Iggy let go, Nudge continued, "-e awesome and stuff!" Iggy rolled his eyes in amusement as Ella sympathetically patted him on the shoulder. "Please please please let us Max!" Nudge finished.

After a moment of confusion, it finally hit me. She wanted us to go to school. I shook my head, "Nudge, you know what our rules are."

"But we're going to be normal now! We're living in one place, as a family, so why can't we go to school?" she asked.

My mother spoke up, "Max, you have two options. One, you can let Iggy and Gazzy spend 8 hours a day making bombs, let Angel 'request' that the candy shop owner to give her free candy, and let Nudge burn out your ears. On the other hand, you can rest easy, knowing they're in safe hands, and live your childhood the way a kid should."

I wasn't sold. "How can you consider a school 'safe hands'? We can't do this. Right, guys?" They all nodded, agreeing with me.

Except for Fang. "Y'know Max, we'll be fine. We're capable of handling ourselves in a crowd during the day. We'll always have each other after school."

I slowly nodded. Fang never said three complete sentences unless he felt very strongly about something.

I looked around at the other flock members, all of them not buying Fang.

Gazzy shook his head. "Remember Lissa?" Fang and I winced, not knowing how Gazzy knew about her or cared to remember. "There are million girls like that at schools."

Fang didn't respond. Gazzy nailed him.

Nudge suddenly screamed, "But we have to go to school! Max, do you want your mom to have to deal with us every day? When we become g-grownups, we have to be geniuses!" She looked at Dr. M, who winked at her. "Please Max? Pleaaaaaase?" she said, as she gave me the dreaded Bambi eyes. I sighed, knowing she had won.

"Alright, fine."

She and Fang slapped high-fives from across the table. Nudge jumped up and down. Fang settled for one of his traditional irritating smirks. I glared at him. "How can you do this?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Tell you later."

I nodded absently, still frozen in place by his smile. I slapped myself mentally. This couldn't be happening.

I tried my best to glare daggers at him. "Fine." I stood up and walked back to my room, giving Fang a shove on the way. I shook my head. How did I give in so easily? How could I do this to the younger kids? I made three people happy, while letting down everyone else.

It must've taken all her self-control for Angel to be quiet the entire time without mind-controlling anybody. It just wasn't fair to her. Unfortunately, now there was nothing I could do about it. Mom had already filled out forms for us to go to school, and was probably sending them in right now. All she needed was my consent.

I took off my sweatshirt and threw it to the ground.

As I was changing into my pajamas, I heard a faint, "Woo hoo! Now I can have friends and be normal and meet boys!"

Wait, what?

Boys?

I sighed. Forget it. I'd talk to her later about it. Let her enjoy herself while she can. In the meantime, I have to talk to Fang.

I left my room and pushed open his door without knocking. He was standing with his back to the door with his shirt off.

He turned around. I immediately gasped. He was seriously ripped!

He heard me and smirked. I ignored him. It was hard to ignore his beautiful six-pack, but I had to get to the point.

"Fang, just why? You know just as well as I how evil schools are!" I shrieked.

As usual, he remained calm. "I didn't agree to it for myself. I agreed to it for your mom and the kids."

"How would a SCHOOL help us?" I asked, in a more controlled tone.

"First, your mom will have an easier time with us. I already feel bad for burdening her with living here. School's the least we can do. Next, since hopefully we won't have to do any more world saving, we'll all need some sort of education. We aren't running from anyone right now. If you don't want a normal life, what do you want?" he concluded.

Hear that? I could totally imagine 'Fang Martinez: 45th President of the United States of America'. But really, since when did he give speeches?

He did have a point. A normal life seemed awfully appealing compared to constantly running for your life. Still…..

"Fang, we won't have any time for us to actually be The Flock. You know that no matter what we do, we'll never be normal. We've done our own thing this far, and look what we've done. You want to just throw it out the window and begin again?" I argued.

Fang shook his head, "We're not throwing it away. We're just moving on. Nothing lasts forever."

For some reason, his last comment irritated me. I shoved him hard, not missing the opportunity to touch his six-pack. He fell backwards on his bed with a satisfying, _THUNK!_.

Before I could say something stupid, I turned around and marched back into my room.

I looked out the window into the dark night.

_I'm such a failure,_I thought.

And with that happy thought, I flopped down on my bed and went to sleep.

* * *

**So, how was it? Please R&R! Criticism and suggestions welcome!**


	3. Really, Fang?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. JP does.**

**Claimer: I do, however, own all OC's.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Fang's POV**

This morning, I woke up on my own at 6:00, which is saying a lot, since I usually rely on Gazzy to detonate an explosive in front of my face to wake me up. Hopefully living in a house with alarm clocks would take care of that problem. My laptop wasn't on my desk like it should've been, but that was a problem for later.

Wow. I couldn't believe I actually won an argument with Max yesterday. It was really satisfying to see her storm out of the room like that. Not to mention, she looked gorgeous in a way when she narrowed her eyes at me. Well, I had to rely on Nudge for the most part, but I can't help feeling satisfied with myself. I really think school would be a good experience for both the younger kids and me and Max. It'll knock some sense into Max, which should help her make better decisions for us when we get married, have-

Wait, what am I thinking? She would never want to marry me. She'd never even like me. She's freaking gorgeous. And I mean it. Seeing her smile reminds me that Jeb _has_ done some good for the world, even if by accident. We've shared several kisses over the past few months, but how can I think that she wants me forever if she doesn't think twice about making out with some douche _right in front of our house_? If she liked me, she wouldn't have done that. Even if I hesitated to push away Lissa when she trapped me against the wall. She wasn't there to see it, but as soon as she left, I glared at her and told her to never come near me again. Maybe the whole thing was a sign. Maybe I should give up on Max and find someone else. I didn't want her to hate me.

Anyways, I woke up early this morning to get ready for the first day of school. People always assume I look this great by _accident_, but really, it's a lot of work. I would never tell anyone, but vanity is my kryptonite. Has anyone noticed how nice my black jacket still is, even after all these battles? I thought not.

"Fang!" Max yelled from the hall, "Get your butt out here!"

I glanced at my watch, which read 7:19.

Crap. How did it take me that long to fix my hair?

"Coming!" I replied, as I pushed open my door.

In the kitchen, Max was leaned against the counter, waiting for me.

I looked around. "They're not up yet?"

Max shook her head, "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

I sighed. Last time she said that, I left with a sprained wrist, a few bruises, and a cut on my ear (Don't ask).

"Is it about how amazingly gorgeous I am?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes, "More like, how humble you are. Listen, how are we going to keep the kids from getting us kicked out? Last time we went to school, Gazzy broke a guy's arm, the Dynamic Duo (our nickname for Iggy and Gazzy) detonated a stink bomb in the bathroom, and they snuck into the basement! What if they were caught?"

I was saved from having to answer by a sleepy Angel trudging into the room holding Celeste. "Morning, Fang and Max." She's the most adorable kid you'll ever meet. She has shoulder-length, curly blonde hair, big blue eyes, and is the sweetest girl in the world.

Max smiled, "Morning, Angel," as she brushed Angel's hair out of her eyes. Max knelt down, gave her a hug, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

I couldn't help smiling. Even though they were only eight years apart, Max was more or less her mother.

She looks just like her name, but don't let that deceive you. She could beat up most grown men within a minute. Even though she always looks innocent, she doesn't hesitate to use her mind-reading and mind-controlling powers for no good. Angel has 'asked for' at least a hundred dollars of stuffed animals from the local toy store. Still, I loved her just like a daughter.

"What's for breakfast?" she asked, looking up at Max.

"Um, oatmeal."

"Yay! Let me get Iggs." She knew better than to make Max cook. Last time she tried, it took our supernatural powers to break the mass of black matter that was supposed to be toast. I suppressed a chuckle, remembering Max's expression when she took the piece of 'toast' out of the oven.

A few seconds later, I heard a loud, "OW!" from across the hallway. I couldn't help but smile as I pictured Iggy getting jumped by Angel.

"WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!" she yelled.

While she was trying (and failing) to drag Iggy out of bed, Nudge and Ella sauntered into the room. Nudge was in a pink shirt with a heart and a short black skirt. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the vast amount of makeup she used, since this was the first day. Let me just say that it ranks higher than food consumption in the list of "Top Ten Ways to Make Dr. Martinez Bankrupt". Ella, on the other hand, was in a conservative blue long-sleeved shirt with a pink octopus on the front and a pair of jeans. She still acted pretty girl, but I could see the tomboy streak in her genes she shared with Max.

Nudge looked puzzled. "Where's breakfast?" she asked.

I was quick to explain. "Well, we didn't want the house to burn down, so we decided to wait for Iggy to cook some oatmeal."

Nudge and Ella looked disappointed, but nodded. They sure were anxious for their first day. Somehow, they became inseparable best friends within the few days we were here. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since they're the only girls in the house who, you know, actually act like girls.

Angel suddenly burst into the room, dragging a half-asleep Iggy behind, still in his pajamas, and Gazzy trailed them in the back making sure he didn't escape.

Iggy promptly collapsed on the nearest piece of furniture, the couch.

Angel walked up to him and started hitting him on the back. "We're hungry and school starts soon! Make breakfast Iggy!"

Iggy looked up, "Hey, I'm sorry. I was just up late watching po-I mean watching the highlights from the football games yesterday." Wow, Iggy. No wonder my laptop was missing!

Max looked shocked. "YOU PERVERT IGGY! Now the rest of us have to suffer from your perversion! I would kill you right now if I knew how to cook!"

Iggy looked embarrassed. "What do you guys want for breakfast?" he asked, very conspicuously changing the subject.

Before Max could yell at him again, I spoke up. "Oatmeal, Iggs. Be quick."

He nodded and slowly walked to the kitchen. "Hey, who took the box?" he said, not feeling the oatmeal in its normal place.

"Right here, Iggy," Max scowled, as she threw the box across the room to him.

As usual, Iggy saw it coming and caught it flawlessly. Ella looked at him with a hint of admiration and blushed ever so slightly.

Iggy grumbled something about stupid girls as he began to pour the mix into a bowl.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the entire flock plus Ella was seated around the table. I took advantage of the time it took for him to cook to hide my laptop. I didn't use it too much anymore, since I had abandoned my blog once we took down Itex.

Somehow, Ella was finished first. "That was delicious, Iggs!"

Iggy looked satisfied. "Thanks, Ells." Was that a blush hiding behind his grin?

Before I could continue investigating, Max stood up. "We should really get going," she announced.

I glanced at my watch. 8:05 stared back at me. Crap! School started at 8:15.

Everyone else stood up and rushed about to get their backpacks.

A few minutes later, we had gathered at the Martinez's front porch. Ella began to walk down the sidewalk, to the right. Gazzy looked at her, puzzled. "Hey, where are you going?"

"School. Where else?"

"Why don't we just fly through the forest? It's faster and nobody will see us."

Ella sighed, dropped her backpack, and made a show of taking off her jacket, "Do you see wings?" she said, slightly frustrated.

Gazzy finally registered what he said. "Oooh. Sorry." he said.

Ella put her jacket and backpack back on and resumed walking.

We all looked at each other, unsure of what to do, until Max finally opened her wings and shot into the forest. We all followed behind her in a single-file line. Conveniently, the elementary, middle, and high schools were all right next to each other. Max, Iggy, Ella, and I went to high school, Nudge went to middle school, and Angel and Gazzy went to elementary school. Ella is only 14, but she skipped 2nd grade, so she goes to high school with us. Even though we left shortly after Ella, we arrived at school a good amount of time ahead. I checked my watch again. 8:13. Yes! We had two minutes before the bell!

Max and I signed up for most of the same classes, including homeroom. I hope Max doesn't find out that I saw what she was signed up for and made sure I was in all the same classes. The only class we have with Iggy is English, in 3rd period. We don't see Ella at all except for lunch.

I ran down the hallway, with Max close behind me. I ran through the door, half-hoping for the bell to ring at that moment for a dramatic effect.

No such luck.

"What's your name?" a voice said.

I turned towards it. It came from the mouth of a middle-aged man at the front of the room. He was wearing a white lab coat, which had relationships to the words 'evil', 'mad scientist', and 'experiment' in my mind. Not a good first impression.

I hid my initial reaction of fear and put on a straight face.

"Fang. And this is Max."

He looked at us carefully, and nodded, "There are two open desks at the back of the room. Class is starting in a minute."

As if on cue, the bell rang as soon as he finished saying 'minute'.

Max and I scurried around the desks and sat down in our seats. I took out my laptop and chemistry textbook that Dr. Martinez provided me with.

"Welcome and good morning, students. My name is Mr. Holland. I will be teaching Advanced Chemistry this semester, and I look forward to being able to teach every one of you. I know you don't want to hear long introductions on your first day, so I'll keep it short. In the first few weeks, we'll be studying the reactions of-" he said, before I tuned him out.

His speech went on for another five minutes. What did he say about short introductions? I snuck a glance at Max, and she was rolling her eyes at the teacher.

"-we will conclude the semester with the study of how molecules react when combined with other molecules. Any questions?" Mr. Holland finally concluded.

As I expected, nobody raised their hand. Everybody else was still fazed from Mr. Holland's 'short introduction'. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. Now, I've paired you up for the first lab. Jim will be working with Clara, Fang with Brigid, Max with Robert-" I turned and looked for my partner, Brigid.

I found her sitting at her desk. She immediately stood up, looked me up and down, and put on a seductive smile. "Heyyy, Fangy!" she said as she inched closer to me. I stepped backwards and held up my hands. Where was she going with this?

"B-Brigid. Let's just do the lab. We can talk later. Don't call me Fangy, by the way." I said, confused.

Brigid pouted. "Fine."

I walked over to our black table. Thank goodness they didn't look like anything I could remember from the School. I had tried to forget all of my painful memories from the school, but it's sort of hard to forget half of my life. I would've dedicated a blog entry to anyone who can do that.

Brigid picked up a tube of red liquid. I was considering slapping her hand, but abstained at the last moment. It wouldn't be pretty if Brigid spilled a tube of potentially dangerous liquid on the table.

"Brigid, wait. Let Mr. Holland explain," I said.

Mr. Holland was busy fidgeting with his Smartboard, trying to calibrate the pen. I groaned. If Iggy did this, I will personally dump the tube of chemicals Brigid was holding down Iggy's shirt.

After fifteen minutes of embarrassment, Mr. Holland had had enough. "All right, attention, students! Please refrain from touching any of the test tubes."

"Oops," Brigid giggled.

Mr. Holland looked at her. "Something to say, Ms. Stone?"

Brigid shut up. "No," she muttered.

Mr. Holland looked satisfied. "We will conduct a different experiment then the one I had planned. For this one, the chemicals in front of you will not be necessary. We will be creating Carbon towers. For this experiment, we will only need sugar, a Bunsen burner, a glass stirrer, a stand, and a piece of wire gauze. These materials can be found beneath your tables."

I reached down into my drawer, but instead of finding the materials I needed, I saw an empty drawer with a note in the back.

The note read, "Hey, bro! Sucks to be you! -Jeff"

A wave of shock and anger washed over me. Iggy did this? Why did he sign "Jeff"? We weren't keeping our names secret. Why did he do this? How did he know that I would be at this desk? I was so going to wring his neck when we got home. But we were still like brothers, and I wouldn't rat him out.

I ripped the note from the drawer and sloppily shoved it in my pocket. "Mr. Holland!"

He looked up from his table. "Fang? Is there a problem back there?"

"Yes, my table is empty."

"Wh-what? I personally made sure that everyone had all necessary materials this morning!"

"Well, you must've missed our table. Come take a look."

He walked over, and sure enough, nothing was to be found.

He shook his head in disbelief. "I cannot explain this. For now, you may join another table."

As I watched him walk back to the front of the room, I walked over to Max's table. "Hey."

Max looked up, surprised. "Fang? What are you doing here?"

"Don't ask."

She nodded. Her partner, Robert, was busy consulting his textbook for instructions.

Several minutes later, we finally managed to create our carbon tower. Who knew that sugar could turn black and expand when heated. Huh.

At the front of the room, Mr. Holland called, "Students! Turn this way!"

After getting our attention, he continued, "This is what should have happened to your sugar. Watch carefully."

He carefully measured 3 ounces of sugar, and poured it into a beaker. I half-expected him to suddenly reveal himself as a scientist from the School. Hey, growing up in a dog crate in a lab makes you paranoid about anyone wearing a lab coat! After striking his Bunsen burner, he began to stir the sugar, expecting it to slowly rise. He certainly didn't expect to see what he did.

The beaker exploded right before his eyes.

Thankfully, it was a small explosion, and Mr. Holland was quick. He ducked as the explosion destroyed the table along with the Bunsen burner. I knew the explosion could have been caused by only one person: Iggy. I really was going to kill him at home.

Mr. Holland spoke up. "Well, students, that was a good demonstration of what not to do. I have no explanation to as what happened. I apologize for the poor demonstration, and I will now check to see if everyone has successfully constructed a carbon tower."

Max looked at me. "Ig-"

I cut her off. "Yeah."

Max rolled her eyes, clearly not happy. "I will personally cut off his wings and push him off the Grand Canyon. "

I tried not to laugh as I pictured him screaming, "BACON!" as he fell to his death.

Meanwhile, Dr. Holland had finished checking everyone's carbon towers. "Well, I see that you all were more competent than I was at this exercise. Very good job, students. We have ten minutes remaining in class, so I will ask for everyone to empty your beakers and clean up."

A chorus of "Awww!"'s echoed among the students. Seems like they really enjoyed burning sugar.

As I was following Max out of the room, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I quickly turned around to find myself face-to-face with Brigid, my partner.

"Heeeyyyy Fangles! Wanna-" she said, before Max interrupted her.

"Who do you think you are?"

Brigid batted her eyes, feigning innocence. "I-I was just talking to Fang, here."

I was lost. What was Max doing?

After sufficiently staring her down, Max walked off. I followed her.

"What's up?" I asked Max.

She turned around, upset, "Nothing."

"Really, Max, what's wrong?"

She glared at me, "That Brigid girl, I swear, if she.." she trailed off.

Being a boy, I was completely lost when Max spoke in Girlese. However, I could tell something was wrong. I decided not to press her. I didn't want her mad at me.

I sighed and turned around.

"IGGY?"

Iggy tried his best to look at me. "Yeah?"

"You know why I'm talking to you."

Iggy innocently looked at me. "Huh?"

"Iggy, I swear-"

He held up his hands. "Dude, I honestly have no idea why you're saying this. Now let me go to class or I'll be late."

I sighed and let him go. "Don't think I'll forget."

As Iggy ran off, I turned to head to Spanish. As I turned, I bumped into someone.

"Brigid?"

"Fangy!" she squealed. I winced. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, called my Fangy. Fangles? Sure. Fangy? No way. I have no idea why, I just hate the name.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go see a movie with me this Saturday?" she said in an irritating, high voice.

Did she just ask me out? I froze up. "Well, uh-I, um-"

She rolled her eyes. "Please, Fangles. It'll be great!"

I had no idea how to respond. I didn't want to hurt her, but I really liked Max. I couldn't do this.

No, I thought. No. No. NO. NOO. "Uh, sure," is what ended up coming out of my mouth.

She perked up. "I knew it! I can't wait!"

I watched her run down the hallway, thinking, "What did I just do?"

* * *

**Max's POV**

_Uh, sure._

Fang's words were ringing through my head. I had overheard their conversation accidentally. I stepped out of the bathroom to hear them talking.

I couldn't believe it. Fang had chosen this girl he just met over me? I should've known that he never loved me. He was drop-dead, Robert Pattinson-level gorgeous. He'd never like a tomboy rebel girl like me.

I blinked back tears. Tears? _Tears? _I never cried. Why was I suddenly crying over a guy?

I had no choice. I ran out of the school, unfurled my wings, and took off. I didn't care if anyone saw me, I just had to get as far away from Fang as possible.

* * *

**I apologize if I got some science stuff wrong. I know zilch about it!**

**R&R please?**


	4. Girl Problems and Bacon

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, or any characters associated with it. James Patterson does.**

* * *

**Iggy's POV**

_RRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNGGG!_

I jumped. What was that supposed to mean? I listened closely around me, and it sounded like people were packing up. Does the bell mean that school's over?

"Hey, Iggy!" yelled Ella, from across the hallway.

I smiled and turned towards her. "Hi, Ells."

Ella was the most beautiful girl I've ever met, and that's saying something. I've made Angel send me pictures of way more girls than I'd admit to, but none of them could come close to Ella's beauty. Ella had gorgeous dark brown hair, equally amazing brown eyes, and a smile that could cure my blindness just by looking at it. Wait, that doesn't make sense. Forget it. Anyways, I really liked her, but I've been worried that she doesn't like me back. There's nothing like rejection to put a blind mutant bird-kid in a permanent bad mood.

However, tonight was the night. I'm going to ask her out, and I'm not going to bail this time. I even had a plan! I'll walk Ella home to show her how much I care about her. I'd spend two hours making bombs with Gazzy to put me in a good mood and inflate my ego, and then approach Ella and ask her out.

"Iggy?" she said, snapping me out of my daze.

"Yeah?"

"Ready to go home?"

"Yup."

Ella couldn't find Fang and Max, so we decided to let them come home whenever they wanted to. Is it a coincidence that both of them are M.I.A? Heh heh.

I sped up to walk next to her. When we were a few feet out the door, Ella stopped.

I turned around to face her, or at least where I thought she was. "What's wrong?"

"You aren't flying home?"

I smiled. "Nah, I decided I'd walk you home."

I'll admit, I was surprised at what happened next. "Aww, Iggy, that's so sweet of you!" she said as she hugged me. I adjusted myself so I was hugging her back.

Maybe….

Since no plan I've ever made has worked, maybe I should scrap it and ask Ella out _right now_.

As she let go of me, I made my move. "So, E-Ella. I-I was wondering if-if you want to go to the Italian restaurant down the street tomorrow with me," I spat out the last half hurriedly. I'm smooth that way.

A second passed.

Then another second.

Ella screamed, "OF COURSE, YOU IDIOT! I thought you'd never ask!" I really wished I could see her expression.

I smiled the biggest smile of my life. "Well, then, uh, let's get going!"

I couldn't stop smiling as we walked home, hand in hand.

* * *

When we got home, an unhappy Fang was waiting for us. As soon as I walked through the door, he shoved me right back out onto the porch. Who knew concrete was so hard? And why the hell did he do that?

"Fang!" Ella yelled. "What was that for!?"

Fang growled, "Iggy knows exactly what he did. He better apologize right now."

Ella helped me up and I straightened out my shirt. What was he talking about? "What the hell? I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Drop it, Iggy."

I waved my arms, "I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Fang scowled. Or at least I think he did. "What's the meaning of this, then?" he said as he handed me a note.

I felt around for the black ink. It took me a minute, but I managed to 'read' it. It read, "Hey, bro! Sucks to be you! -Jeff". What the hell?

I shook my head. "I swear, dude, I did not write this. Besides, this writing is legible! My handwriting is chicken scratch! Also, I'm not Jeff anymore." Was he really that mad about a stupid note?

Fang took another look at the note, and said in a low, but clearly relaxed, tone, "Sorry, man. I didn't think about the handwriting. "

I nodded. "No prob. But why are you so mad over a wimpy human insult like that?" Oh, crap. I forgot Ella was here. Wait…never mind. She must've run off.

I waited. Fang blurted out, "I'm shaking my head. It's not the note I'm mad about."

I guess he could tell I was confused, because he continued, "This morning, in science class, we did a little experiment. There were supposed to be materials in the drawer in my table, but the drawer was empty and this note was stuck to the back of it. Later, when the teacher heated up sugar, it exploded. Naturally, I assumed it was your fault since Gazzy goes to elementary school." That had to be the longest it had ever took for Fang to describe something.

I let out a whistle. Exploding sugar? I never thought of that. An evil grin spread across my face as I thought of an idea.

EXPLODING DONUTS.

MIND. BLOWN.

I mean, everyone knows that explosions and donuts are the two best things in the world (besides Ella, of course), but had anyone ever thought of combining the two? I'm an evil genius.

I shook my head, "Nope."

Fang patted my shoulder and apologized, "Sorry. I just…couldn't help think it was you."

"It's cool. I'm gonna do homework now."

I walked into my room and launched myself on my bed, landing flawlessly in the center of my bed, as usual. I grabbed the iPod Dr. Martinez gave me and turned it on. It sucked when I wanted to hear a certain song, because I can't see or feel the screen's colors. The poor shuffle button was probably broken by now. I eventually settled on "Lost in the Echo" by Linkin Park.

Did I mention that I love synths almost as much as I love bombs?

I was mentally rocking out to the epic rap part when a loud thought penetrated my mind.

_Where's Max?_

Oh, it's just Angel. I thought, "Ask Fang."

She giggled in my mind but was quiet.

I went back to my music. So much for homework.

I was lost in thought between bacon, donuts, and loud, aggressive music when I felt a tingling in my mind. At first, it was barely noticeable. Within five minutes, though, it felt like an Eraser was sitting on my head. I groaned and lumbered my way to the kitchen. I reached up to grab an Aspirin when I realized something.

The pain was gone. Huh.

I grabbed the bottle just in case the headache returned. I was ignoring the whispers and giggles coming from the girls' room until I heard Nudge scream. I quickly opened the door, promptly tripped on Celeste, and faceplanted. Thankfully, Ella was playing basketball in the driveway.

"Oowww.." I moaned, rubbing the newly-formed bruise on my head.

Nudge and Angel helped me up. "Are you okay?" Angel asked sweetly.

I nodded. "What were you screaming about?" I asked Nudge.

She, for once, seemed to be at a loss for words. "Um, well, Angel here-"

Angel shook her head vigorously, "Don't tell him!" she squealed.

I stood up and looked down at them, "You were saying, Nudge?"

"Angel just told me about you and Ella! That is SO CUTE! OMG, you guys totally should-"

"ANGEL!" I yelled, as I glared at where I last heard Angel.

Angel trembled, "I-I'm sorry Iggy. It was just too much to pass up." She sent me a picture of her and her stupid Bambi eyes.

I immediately felt bad for yelling at her. "Sorry," I muttered as I ruffled her hair. Angel hugged my waist.

I untangled myself and walked back to my room. How could Angel even tell? I haven't been thinking of Ella!

Then it hit me.

Angel was probing my mind, not just picking up my stray thoughts. That's why my head hurt so much! Damn, how did I not realize that?

I felt my alarm clock. It read 7:21. I'd been listening to music for three hours!

I sighed and fished out my math textbook from the mass of stuff known as my backpack. I opened it to the first page. Scanning through it, I found nothing but a million numbers and formulas. This is stupid. When will I ever use this in life?

I tossed the textbook on the ground and sat on my bed.

I immediately thought of Ella and smiled. I allowed myself to squeal mentally. She said yes! I had a date with the hottest girl in Arizona. How much better could it get?

_Bacon_, Angel said in my mind.

_Shut up_, I responded.

_No, that's not what I-HAHAHAHAHA!_

I rolled my eyes.

_I meant to ask you to make some bacon now, I'm getting hungry._

_Sure._

Bacon for dinner? Why not.

I got up and walked to the kitchen. The bacon was in its usual place, in the back of the fridge. I got the skillet, poured some oil, and got cooking.

As I was getting ready to turn over the first row of bacon, Fang yelled from the living room, "MAAAXX!"

No response.

I turned around. Where could she be? She was always home by 5.

"Fang?" I called.

He walked into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"Where'd you last see her?"

"Umm," he paused, "at school. After she shot Brigid a serious glare and we walked away."

Fang seemed uncomfortable. It seemed like he was hiding something. Oh, why not.

"And then?"

"Um, nothing."

"Uh-huh."

Before I could question him, I heard a loud SSZZZZZ!

I whipped around and sniffed the air. It smelled suspiciously of a burning campfire. NO. This couldn't be happening. My bacon was burning! Dammit, Fang!

I quickly dumped the pan into the sink and turned on the water.

Gazzy rushed in, "What's g-" he began, before realizing my predicament. "No ….." He stared into the sink with wide eyes.

I shook my head. "Sorry, Gaz. Fang's fault." Before he could respond, I clarified. "Girl problems." See? Guys have two code words: girl problems, and bacon. "Girl problems" generally refer to anything stupid, or not worth the time to think about. Of course, I didn't mean it literally. Ella was most definitely worth my time. "Bacon" (Alternate forms: baconly, baconish, baconistic, etc.) refers to awesome stuff, hot girls, or an opportunity to show off your moves.

On the other hand, girls had about a million code words, none of which make a lick of sense to anyone with a cell of manliness in them. Do I understand girls? Nope. Will I ever try to? Nope.

Gazzy scowled, a look of mock determination in his eyes. "He'll pay for this."

I nodded and picked some new bacon out of the package. Thankfully, this time, no dark-haired emo mutants interrupted me. This bacon came out perfectly. I grinned. It's hard not to feel at least a little satisfied after cooking bacon perfectly. I called out the rest of the flock.

Everybody sans Max came, including Dr. Martinez. She had just gotten home from work when she smelled the amazing smell of bacon cooking.

I was becoming really worried about Max. She was our leader. Leaders set good examples. She was setting a bad example by coming home late. Something here just didn't add up.

"Here's to never growing up!" Nudge yelled, as she speared a piece of bacon and held it high. We all groaned. Nudge had become twice as annoying ever since she found her newest theme song. Although, I have to give her props for choosing a perfect song for herself: she didn't care to listen to authority, she's a girly-girl, and she's perky.

Fang grunted, disgusted. Thankfully, I knew bacon could revive his appetite.

Thirty minutes later, everyone had finished their fat stacks of bacon except for Ella and I.

Ella spoke up, "So…"

"Did Fang look suspicious during dinner?" I asked.

She paused a moment, and replied. "Come to think of it, yes. His eyes were fixed to his plate and he was constantly mumbling something about stupid girls."

I knew the part about Fang's comments under his breath. I had the best hearing in the flock, after all.

I smiled for a moment. Fang and I were very much alike in many ways.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand.

I nodded. "All right, thanks."

Thankfully, she didn't press me.

She stood up. "So, Iggy, wanna watch a movie tonight?"

Completely forgetting about Fang and Max, I responded, "Of course! What do you want to watch?"

"Um, The Princess Bride, I guess. I haven't seen it in forever."

Being blind, I only agreed to this as a way to spend time with Ella. I couldn't really care less about the movie. "Sure," I replied.

She grabbed my hand and led me to the couch. After putting the DVD in-Weird. I didn't know people used those anymore—she plopped down on the couch and pulled a blanket over us. It felt so good to be sitting down, pressed against Ella, without a care in the world.

I snuggled closer against Ella and put my arm around her. She did the same. I knew better than to try anything stupid, because I didn't want to risk losing her. Besides, I was 16 and she was only 14. She acted way more mature than me (surprise?), but she was still 14. I couldn't live with myself if I took advantage of her.

Meanwhile, in reality, the movie had just ended. As soon as it ended, Ella fell asleep lying against my back. I was thinking about going back to my bed, but it was too comfortable here.

Next thing I knew, I was asleep, right next to Ella.

* * *

**R&R please? Suggestions, criticism, corrections, etc. welcome.**


	5. Lost in Iggyland

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of her friends. For that matter, I don't own the books. JP does.**

* * *

**Ella's POV**

"Uuuuuugggghhh," Iggy groaned, as he woke up.

Oh, crap. I had fallen asleep on the couch, right next to Iggy! Whatever. It was definitely worth it.

I slowly rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sat up.

In front of me, gathered in a semi-circle around the couch, were the Flock.

Since Max was gone, Fang took charge, "You have 30 seconds. Explain yourselves."

Iggy blurted out, "We were watching a movie, and then just fell asleep here after it."

Fang seemed slightly relieved, "Anything more than just sleeping next to each other?"

Wait, what? Wha-OH. That's what he meant. I'm 14 for goodness' sake, Fang! Do boys ever think about anything else?

"NO!" cried Iggy and I at the same time.

Fang and the others were suppressing laughter, especially Nudge, but they let it slide. Nudge's hands were over her mouth, and her eyes were wide.

At the breakfast table, after Iggy made us all heaping plates of sausages and eggs (we ate all the bacon last night), Fang gave us his latest report on Max, "She's nowhere to be seen. If she doesn't show up today, we're going to look for her."

We all nodded. His plan made perfect sense. In case she returned, we wouldn't want to be gone, but she could be in danger. Unfortunately, that meant that I would be staying home alone, with only mom as company. At least I'd be safe from Nudge's singing. She really enjoys it, so nobody says anything, but she could definitely use a few voice lessons.

I looked across the table and saw Iggy. That boy was so cute. He'll have to explain why he thought I'd reject him, because I can't imagine anyone turning down the funniest guy on the planet. He always knew how to make me laugh, no matter what the situation. It's unfair how well he can sense people's emotions without seeing them.

We stacked our plates in the kitchen sink and hoped somehow the dishwashing fairies would show up and do the dishes for us. Every day we did this, and every day one of us would have to wash them after school. But if kids can have wings, who says the dishwashing fairies don't exist?

I sighed longingly at the thought of wings. I wanted them, more than anything else in the world. I really wanted to know the feeling of flying through the air, my hair flowing behind me, the wind in my face. The Flock looked so amazing when flying. It almost made me forget about their world-saving duties.

Stop it, Ella. Don't resent them. They've done so much for you, including saving your life and the world. They treated me really well, especially Max, and tried their best to make me feel like I was one of them. But I knew better. I didn't have wings, so I couldn't be with them when trouble ensued. I could never bond with them the same way they were bonded with each other. It was the fights to the death that made them realize what they meant to each other. Living in the same house with them could never cover what years of living together, on the run, could.

"Ella?" Iggy's sweet voice brought me back to reality, as he wrapped his arm around me.

"Yeah?"

He gave me a squeeze. "Nothing, you just spaced out for a moment there."

I wanted to scream right there, "I WAS DAYDREAMING ABOUT YOU AND YOUR AMAZINGNESS, YOU IDIOT!". I managed a, "Uh, I'm fine. Thanks."

Iggy smiled and let me go. I tried to mask my disappointment until I remembered he was blind.

Thankfully, he and his ESP didn't notice. I watched him closely as he walked to his room to grab his backpack.

Oh, that's right. School. Wait, I didn't do my homework yesterday! Crap! I was too busy thinking about the possibilities of Eggy (Ella +3 Iggy) and watching a movie with Iggy. Oh, well, it was well worth it. I'd trade a grade for a night with Iggy all to myself any day.

Gosh, what was with me and my constant trips out of reality and into Iggyland? I can't blame my mind for taking me there. Who wouldn't want to live there forever?

I picked up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. As soon as I got the second strap over my back, my phone buzzed. Bad timing, much?

I set my backpack down, unzipped the outer pocket, and dug out my phone. I had one new message.

* * *

**From: Alexa Schmitt**

**Hey, Ells! Can't wait to see you! I can't believe we have classes together this year. It's gonna be totally awesome! Love you!**

* * *

I replied right away.

* * *

**To: Alexa Schmitt**

**Lexy! OMG I can't wait! We have to go crash the pool parties at my neighbor's house again! That was so much fun!**

* * *

**From: Alexa Schmitt**

**YEAH! That was awesome, and there were a ton of hot guys. We need to get you a boyfriend. You're way too pretty to be single!**

* * *

**To: Alexa Schmitt**

**Well, the forever alone girl is no longer alone! XD 3 We still gotta crash dem parties though!**

* * *

**From: Alexa Schmitt**

**NO WAY. That's AWESOME! Who is it? Do I know him? Is he cute?**

* * *

I groaned inwardly. Is the only thing she cares about cuteness? I liked Iggy for his sweet, kind, and funny personality. His muscles and hotness were just bonuses.

* * *

**To: Alexa Schmitt**

**Tell ya in school! :P**

* * *

**From: Alexa Schmitt**

**Aww, fine. Come before the end of history! We don't have another class together until Thursday.**

* * *

Wait, the END of history? I looked at my phone clock. 8:32!? What the hell? Why didn't anyone tell me to move it?

* * *

**To: Alexa Schmitt**

**Crap! I didn't realize it was so late! Gotta run, ttyl8r!**

* * *

I hastily stuffed my phone in my pocket and ran for the door. I burst through the door, turned left to follow my house's walkway, and nearly decked someone.

"Whoa!" Iggy yelled, straightening me up.

I stared at him. "Why aren't you at school?"

"Well, I was feeding Total, and the others left without me. So, I decided I'd walk you to school."

I gave him a hug, "Thanks," I whispered in his ear. To people who don't know him well, Iggy was cocky and immature. But I thought of him as sweet, kind, and deep. I knew the rest of the Flock felt the same way. Max told me how depressed she was when Iggy left, even though it was for just a day. Now that I knew him, I couldn't last a day without him. I couldn't wait for our date this evening!

Iggy smiled. "Any time."

He took my hand and we walked to school.

* * *

As Iggy and I sat down in our desks, I caught Alexa's glance. I winked at her and nodded at Iggy. She stared at him and covered her mouth. "HE'S SO HOT!" she mouthed.

I playfully stuck my tongue out at her. Before she had time to giggle, the teacher, Mrs. Bennington, spoke. "Students, please put your papers on the meaning of history on your desks. I will be collecting them at the end of class."

Whatever. She was already pissed at us for being 30 minutes late for class. What could she do?

The rest of class passed by quickly. I took out my phone and played Flappy Birds the entire time under the cover of a textbook.

I've really picked up on the Flock's disregard for authority. I could definitely see why they disrespected grown-ups after reading what they did on Fang's Blog.

As soon as we were dismissed, Alexa pulled me over. "Why didn't you tell me about him earlier? What's his name?"

"Iggy."

"Are you guys officially together?"

"Um, I don't know. He asked me out yesterday."

She smiled and shook my shoulders. Even though my shoulders were the ones being shaken, Alexa's long, blonde hair still tickled my face every time she shook me.

"Well, make him your boyfriend! Don't let a hottie like him get away!"

"Um, yeah." I turned around and headed to science. Once again, were looks the only thing Alexa paid attention to? She had never said a word to Iggy, or even known he was blind, but she was already a fan.

Oh, well. Nobody's perfect. At least Alexa was a really sweet person, deep down. She just had a penchant for hot guys, even though she already had a boyfriend.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, even lunch time. Alexa and Jessica, my two besties, were trying to get me to talk, but I was lost in Iggyland once again. I could practically feel his soft hands on my shoulder as I chewed on my turkey sandwich.

When Alexa told Jessica about me and Iggy, she squealed with excitement. "How is he? Does he treat you well?" she asked, jumping up and down. Unlike with Alexa, personalities mattered to Jessica.

I smiled. "He's an angel."

"What does he look like?"

I stood up and looked around. I spotted him in the corner, talking with Fang and Jonathan, who seemed to get along with them.

I pointed to him. "The blonde guy."

Jessica nodded. "He's kinda cute," she frowned, "nah, he's really cute. You're a lucky girl, Elly Bear."

I rolled my eyes. My friends had some pretty weird nicknames for me.

"I know," I answered, with a smirk.

* * *

After school, I waited around to walk home with Iggy. After fifteen minutes of waiting, I gave up and walked home alone.

When I arrived at home, Iggy and the flock are already at home conducting business as usual.

Iggy was washing the dishes when he heard me come in. He immediately walked over to me.

"I'm sorry, Ella, for not walking home with you. I completely forgot and flew with Fang."

"It's fine," I said quickly. I couldn't help but be a little bit bitter. Even though I knew he really did just forget, I felt more than a little left out. They could live fine if I died. Including Iggy.

Before Iggy could pursue me, I ran into my room and locked the door. I jumped onto my bed and smothered my face in my pillow.

After a few minutes passed, my frustration was gone. I'm a selfish, ungrateful, person. Enough sa-

_No, you're not_, Angel said in my mind. I sighed. Stupid mind reading.

_Yes, I am._

"No, you're not," Angel repeated, but this time she was standing right in front of me. What the hell? I had locked the door.

I backed up. "Huh? How'd you get here?"

Angel looked ashamed, "I told Iggy something was wrong with you and you were locked in your room, so he was more than happy to loan me his lock-picking kit."

I blinked. Had I heard her right?

Reading my thoughts, Angel replied, "He loves you, Ella. Don't worry."

Relieved, I picked her up and hugged her tight. "Thanks, Angel."

* * *

**Iggy's POV**

As I was washing the dishes, I couldn't get my mind away from Ella. Worst of all, I felt horrible for ditching her at school. That had to be the most boneheaded move I've made since I blew up Max's shirt which I thought was Nudge's. I was out of commission for two weeks.

As I placed the final clear glass into the cupboard, I felt a tug on my shirt. I secretly hoped it was Ella.

I turned around to see Angel, looking up at me. "Iggy? Ella isn't feeling too great and she's locked her door. Can I borrow your lock-picking kit?"

I tensed up. "Not feeling too great, like sick?"

"No. She's sad about something."

I immediately felt guilty all over again about not walking her home. Did it really mean that much to her? I'd have to tell her how much I liked her more often.

"Awwww!" Angel impulsively exclaimed, wide-eyed, before cupping a hand over her mouth. Oh, dear. I hoped she wouldn't end up being a second Nudge. I mean, I loved Nudge and all, but I really think one of her is enough for us.

I blushed. "Can I use your kit for lock picking?" she asked.

I thought about it for about a millisecond. If it was for Ella, it was worth it. I nodded, "It's under my bed, under a few pieces of paper."

Angel beamed at me. "Thanks, Iggy!"

I shook my head, "No, thank _you_, Angel."

Her adorable blond curls bounced against her back as she skipped off.

* * *

**Ella's POV**

After putting Angel down, I stared at my closet for an eternity, trying to decide what to wear to the date. I knew he couldn't see it, but I only wanted to give him the best.

After finally deciding on a puffy red dress and applying a little eye shadow, I walked out the door to meet Iggy at the porch.

I have to admit, he looked pretty snazzy. He was wearing a white dress shirt and khakis. I was thankful he didn't come in a fancy tuxedo, because we both knew that was not truly Iggy. I loved it when Iggy was himself. Even his cockiness was endearing.

"Ready?" Iggy said.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied, taking his hand.

Together, we made our way down the street and to the restaurant. Right before we entered, Iggy's hand escaped mine and made its way around my back and to my waist.

I smiled. What a great way to start our first date.

* * *

**How was it? Please review; any criticism or suggestions will help me to put up better chapters! Thanks for reading!**

**I'm going to start conducting a Question of the Chapter every chapter.**

**This chapter's: Who is your favorite character from the MR series? **

**My response: Angel. She's so cute!**


	6. The Red Crystal

**A/N: Hello, dear readers. To anyone who is reading this: please take a minute to review! It means a lot to me, and helps me improve my future storywriting. Thanks!**

**This morning, I managed to capture Total, so he'll be doing my disclaimers until he runs away.**

**Total: Maximumrider99 doesn't own MR. James Patterson does. **

**Me: Thanks, Total. Your food is in a bowl next to the back door btw.**

**Total: That does not dignify a response from the world's one and only talking dog! [flies away]**

* * *

**Ella's POV**

"Reservation for two, last name Martinez," Iggy said to the waitress.

She nodded, "Right this way, sir.

Iggy followed the waitress step for step, even though he couldn't see her and other people's footsteps made just as much noise as our waitress's.

I remembered the first time I met Iggy. Even before I ever talked to him, I liked him already. He smiled a lot when talking, he was nice to everybody (except people who stole his bacon, donuts, or bombs), and he was cute as well. I recalled our first conversation:

_"Hey, Ella!" Iggy said._

_"Um, hey. How do you know my name?"_

_"Max told me all about you. I couldn't wait to see you in person," Iggy grinned._

_I laughed, "Thanks, Iggy."_

_"So, what's hot around here? Besides me, I mean," he said with a glint in his eyes._

_Friendly, cute, _and_ funny. I blushed. This guy was already getting to me. Something about him just drew me in. I knew he was joking, but he was correct. I giggled. "Um, well, nothing, really right now."_

_I knew Iggy picked up on the fact that I agreed with him. Whatever. I really hoped he liked me back. It would suck if he didn't. _

_I mentally sighed. He was an amazing and special superhuman. He would never love a normal, boring, human like me. He could have any girl in the world he wanted. There were a million prettier, more interesting girls out there for Iggy to choose from. I had no chance with him. I could only hope to find a new guy I liked who wasn't out of my league. _

Looking back on that day, I remembered the hopelessness I felt. I was still in a state of blissful shock as I sat down across from him in our cozy booth for two.

He reached his hand out to me from under the table. I took it.

"So, Ella, what did you think of me when we first met?" Iggy asked, breaking the silence.

"Eh, not much. Just a typical freshman guy," I said, sarcastically.

Iggy laughed. "Well, I knew I liked you as soon as we met."

"What?" I blurted out, without thinking. I admit, I was curious to know why.

"Well, first off, you have the laugh of an angel," he began, "it's the sweetest, most blissful thing I've ever heard. You're easy to talk to, and have the most adorable way of speaking. A little shy, but still confident. Angel picked up on my thoughts and sent me a picture of you when we met. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met," he concluded. By that point, I was nearly tearing up. That was the longest, sweetest thing I've ever heard anyone say to me.

"Ig-Iggy, you're so sweet," I choked out.

He gave me one of his adorable cocky grins.

Before I could break down and fling myself at him across the table, the waitress came.

"Hello, may I get you two something to drink?" she asked with a smile, as her eyes flitted between Iggy and I.

"I'll take a Mount and Do," said Iggy, "er, I mean a Mountain Dew." I rolled my eyes. He was so immature sometimes. But he wouldn't be Iggy if he wasn't. I liked everything about him, even the times when he acted like a third grader.

"Ditto," I added.

The waitress looked from Iggy to me and back to Iggy again. She smiled, "Sure thing," she said, as she walked off to the kitchen.

Apparently she liked us, because she came back thirty seconds later with two glasses full of Mountain Dew.

She muttered something about young love as she walked away. Iggy blushed. I knew he could hear her just as if she were screaming in his ear with his enhanced hearing. At least the jerk scientists who made him blind did something good for him. I swore, if I ever met whoever tried to give Iggy 'enhanced night vision', I would take them apart with my bare hands.

"Ella?" Iggy asked gently, "are you all right?"

I snapped back to reality, "Yeah. Just daydreaming," I blinked. Did I really just say that?

He raised an eyebrow curiously, "About what?"

Against my will, I blurted out, "You."

Any other guy would've looked down, blushed, or ran away. Leave it to Iggy to casually take it in stride, as he'd been expecting it. He just grinned, nodded, and said, "Cool. Hey, do you mind reading the menu to me? It would take forever for me."

"Of course, Iggy." I began listing the dishes that sounded good, "Pasta primavera, fettuccini alfredo, seafood portofino,-"

Iggy held up his hand, "Thanks, Ells," he said, "What are you getting?"

I hadn't thought about that. My brain had been preoccupied with the amazing guy sitting in front of me.

I flipped through the menu. Eggplant parmigiana, capellini pomodoro, linguini alla marinara, fettuccini alfredo, blah blah blah. Was anything here in English? I knew what fettuccini alfredo was, so I decided on that.

Once again, it took the waitress an absurdly short time to get back to us. At this restaurant, the service was really slow since there were so many customers.

I ordered my dish. I would have bet anything that the waitress didn't see Iggy's order coming.

"I'll take three seafood portofinos, a fettucini alfredo, and a refill on Mountain Dew."

The waitress looked shocked, but thankfully didn't question him. "A-All right," she stuttered out, as she reached out to take Iggy's cup. Iggy seemed to enjoy her dumbfoundedness, as he smiled and handed the waitress his cup.

As soon as she left, I heard a voice in my head. _"Can you hear me?" _it said, causing me to jump.

What the hell? Do I have a voice now, like Max? I tried to hide my reaction from Iggy, but he definitely heard me jump.

Iggy looked concerned, "What's happening?"

I didn't answer.

_Yes. Who are you?_ I responded to the voice in my head.

_Yes! It works!, _the voice exclaimed, excited.

_I can hear you, but TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!_

_Don't worry, I'm not your voice. _

_That's great, but who the hell are you?, _I asked. Right as I asked, I suddenly realized something. Angel was the only person I knew who could speak in someone else's mind. But Max told me she could only do it from close range. There were several possibilities to what was happening.

1. The voice is Angel, and she is spying on us. (That would suck.)

2. The voice is Angel, and she has learned to speak in our minds from far away. (That would suck also, but could be useful.)

3. The voice is not Angel. (That would suck the worst. It was terrible not knowing things. At least I knew Angel was only corrupt 19% of the time.)

_Angel? Is that you?_

The voice chuckled. _It took you that long to figure me out?_

_Now tell me if you're here and why you interrupted my date with Iggy, or I'll interrupt your tea party with Celeste._

_You wouldn't do that! Anyways, I'm at home. _She sent me a picture of herself and Total in the exact same pose, arms, legs, and wings outstretched, hovering over the lawn. It was so adorable it should've been illegal. I noticed something strange, though. Angel was holding a red crystal in her left hand. What could it possibly be?

_I just had to test something out. I promise I'll explain at home._

I scowled. Of all times to test something out, why now?

Meanwhile, in reality, Iggy had noticed my silence, moved to my side, and put his arm around me.

"Ella? Are you all right?" he said, panicked, for the tenth time.

I shook my head. "I'm fine. Sorry for freaking you out."

He reluctantly let me go and moved back to his side.

I looked up to see the waitress patiently waiting for us to finish. I immediately felt embarrassed and guilty about making her wait.

"Sorry, ma'am," I said.

She shook her head, "No problem, kids. Take out containers are next to the salad bar, I thought you'd like to know."

Iggy nodded and looked up, "Did I say one fettuccini alfredo? Can you make that three?"

The waitress scribbled it down. "To go, I assume, for your folks at home?" she asked.

Iggy shook his head. "All for here."

The waitress raised her eyebrows, "All right. Remember the take out containers are in a stack right next to the salad bar."

Iggy absently nodded.

When the waitress was gone, we dug in. Before I could swallow my second forkful of alfredo, Iggy had finished his first seafood portofino and was already moving to his second.

By the time the waitress got back with the other dishes Iggy ordered, he had finished all four dishes. If I didn't know him, I would've run away in fear of being eaten next. Knowing him, I just laughed with him at the waitresses' surprise. Iggy just shrugged his shoulders as the awestruck waitress collected his empty plates.

"Y'know, I like these people. The flock and I went to a restaurant in New York once, and we ordered a ton of food. They refused to give it to us. In response, we unfurled our wings and flew away. Their expressions were priceless." Iggy smiled at the memory.

I laughed. "Yeah," I agreed, "The folks in Arizona are really relaxed and easygoing."

Ten minutes and two Iggy plates later, we stood up and left after Iggy pulled a $100 bill out of his pocket to cover the check.

I took his hand, "Thanks, Iggy. That was amazing." I really meant it.

He grinned, "We're just getting started."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a surprise waiting for you at home."

I nodded, secretly really excited. I squeezed his hand and continued walking. However, I was really curious about what he had planned. Too bad I'd have to wait until home.

I suddenly remembered something: Angel's long-distance connections.

I thought hard, _Angel? Can you tell me what Iggy's surprise is?_

A moment passed. No response.

I sighed and continued walking the familiar route home. Before I knew it, we had arrived.

"So, Iggy, what's this surprise you were talking about?"

Iggy smiled, "Stand here, put your hands up, turn around, and close your eyes."

I did what he asked me to.

Five seconds later, I felt Iggy wrap his arms around my waist. Where was he going with this?

He took off running with me in his arms. Suddenly, we weren't on the ground anymore: Iggy had unfurled his wings and taken off! I WAS FLYING!

I laughed with delight as Iggy flew higher. He flew in all sorts of patterns, even doing a few flips. I was completely speechless. Flying through the air without anything else nearby was a feeling matched by nothing else. I forgot all about being frustrated for having to wait for this.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, Iggy ran out of energy. We landed on the rooftop.

I quickly turned to face him. "Iggy, that was the best night of my life. I feel like I've been to heaven and back. Those minutes in the air with you were the best minutes of my life," I whispered in his ear.

Without giving a second thought, I leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips. It was a short kiss, but it felt amazing. As soon as my lips touched his, he put his arms around me and kissed me back.

Iggy looked completely lovestruck as I let go. I let him hold me in his arms with his back resting on the chimney. His blonde hair glowed under the moonlight. He really looked like he belonged on another world, far away from Earth. I could only hope he felt the same way about me.

As if on cue, as soon as thought passed through my head, Iggy spoke up, "Ella, I've only known you for a few months, but I've decided I really like you. You're kind, beautiful, and I love everything about you. So, Ella, will you be my girlfriend?"

I didn't even need to answer. I turned over, and kissed him again. This kiss was much longer and more passionate. We just stood, looking at each other, before Iggy had to end it.

"I hate to end this, but we should come down. Dr. M. and the flock are probably waiting for us," Iggy said.

I nodded. Iggy picked me up and flew me down to the porch. When we entered the kitchen, Mom, Fang, and Angel were there waiting for us. Angel winked at me before disappearing down the hallway.

Mom and Fang immediately rushed towards us. Mom nearly ran me over with a hug, and Fang gave Iggy a pat on the back.

"I was so worried!" my mother cried, "Why were you guys out so late?"

Was it really that late? I looked at the kitchen clock, which read 1:38 A.M. WHAT? We left the restaurant at 9. I guess we lost track of time sitting on the roof.

"We, um, got delayed. Sorry," I explained.

"Where did you guys even go?" asked Fang.

"That Italian restaurant down the street," Iggy replied.

"How many plates did you eat?"

Iggy held up six fingers. Fang gave him a high-five.

Mom looked relieved, to say the least. "Well, kids, I hope you had fun, but it's time for bed now. You all have school tomorrow."

I nodded and gave Iggy one last hug. School was the last thing on my mind when there was Iggy to think about.

As I was walking down the hallway, heading to the shower, I remembered something. Angel promised me she'd explain her new skill to me. I quietly opened her door and walked into her room. As I was expecting, she was wide awake, sitting on her pink bed.

"So, how did you do that?" I asked.

She turned around and picked up an icosahedral red crystal the size of a baseball.

"Your mom gave me this crystal. She knows more than you think about us, by the way. This crystal can help anyone with partially human DNA make their powers stronger."

I nodded, feeling a twinge of disappointment. I was just a human. I'd never be like my winged friends. I remembered trying to ask Angel a question on the walk home. I guess she didn't have her crystal handy.

Angel ignored my thoughts and continued, "So for me, my mind reading, telepathy, communication with fish, and flight became stronger. When I pick up the crystal, I can read minds and send thoughts anywhere. I can fly twice as fast and precise. I can also mind-control fish!" Angel seemed especially excited about the mind-controlling of fish. I hoped she didn't anything fishy up her sleeve.

"But as soon as I put down the crystal, I become normal again. Or at least as normal as I was before."

I nodded, "That's great, Angel," but felt a great deal of resentment. I sighed. There was no use hiding anything from a mind reader.

Angel picked up on my thoughts and said, "Ella, we love you. You're one of us now. Do you know how lucky you are to have a real mom and a place to live? I wish I had your life. Running around and saving the world might sound fun, but it really sucks. You never know if you're going to live to see tomorrow. We're really lucky that we're all still alive." She jumped down from her bed and hugged my waist. I bent down and hugged her back. It felt really awkward being comforted by a seven-year-old, but it made me feel better.

I put her down and walked back to my room, without saying a word.

Why couldn't I be a mutant? Flying in the air with Iggy felt so _right_. I'd always been good at blending in, but it had never felt natural. Deep down, I knew that I didn't belong. But as soon as Iggy took off with me in his grasp, I realized that the air is where I belonged. Now, I could never look at my old life the same way.

My last thought before nodding off was, _I was meant to have wings._

* * *

**Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite part of the story? Least favorite? **

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Yup, That's Her

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Lord Patterson does.**

* * *

**Max's POV (Finally!) **

I didn't look back. Tears streaked across my face, carried by the wind. I was too shocked to think straight. One hundred miles, two hundred miles away, none of it mattered. All that was left in the shattered dome of my mind were the remains of any hopes of a Fang and Max.

He had hurt me before, with Lissa, but that was nothing compared to this. As soon as I felt a spark of hope in our relationship, Fang runs off with some other girl. This time was much worse, though. I made up my mind that he was the one I wanted. When he made out with Lissa, I just felt a subconscious feeling of discomfort.

I stared straight ahead, into the sky, as if I was daring it to attack me.

_Max, you have to calm down. Frustration clouds your ability to think. Did you think about your friends you left behind at home?,_ said my Voice.

_Shut up, _I replied impulsively, ignoring what it had said.

_I can't. It's my duty._

I didn't bother responding.

I kept flying onwards to nowhere. Three hours passed, and I didn't feel a thing.

Ten hours after I flew away, darkness began to envelop me. I was too blocked off to enjoy the incredible view of city lights from above at night.

Deep down, I knew that I should've landed and come to terms with my feelings, but my heart refused to crawl down from my throat.

Deep down, I also knew that I was completely overreacting to the situation. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Voice was right in that frustration clouds my ability to think. I have no intentions of making any effort to clear up my mind anytime soon.

_You have to, like it or not. You can't run from your problems forever._

_Yes, I can, and I will. _

_Uh, sure,_ my Voice said sarcastically. I immediately felt like someone had stabbed a knife through my heart. Those were Fang's exact words when he agreed to go out with Brigid.

I let out a wail, and a fresh, new wave of tears came rolling in. Since when was my Voice a jerk? I was too upset to care.

I kept flying. I saw a ray of light in the distance. Morning had come.

My wings felt more tired than they'd ever felt before, but my anger, frustration, and sadness covered up the pain.

How long had I been flying? A day? I didn't care. I kept flying onward.

I realized I never stopped to ask myself to ask myself why I was doing this. Whatever. It doesn't matter. As long as Fang is with someone else, nothing matters.

When sundown of my second day of flight came, my sight began to blur. However, that didn't stop tears from stinging my eyes as Fang and Brigid's scene replayed in my head.

Suddenly, I began to slip in and out of consciousness. I tried to stay conscious, but I had no energy to sustain consciousness. Finally, all the pain in my wings began to kick in. They suddenly started to feel like they'd been trampled by a pack of Erasers. Shortly after, my wings finally gave way, and I began to fall. Somewhere along the fall, I completely lost consciousness.

The last thing I remembered was thinking, _This is the end._

* * *

**Fang's POV**

_BOOM! _

I snapped awake, a thick, moving cloud of black smoke hanging over my head. Were we being attacked?

I rolled over and jumped out of bed, knocking someone down.

"Jeez, Fang! Chill!" yelled Gazzy, playfully, holding a remote control. He was lying on the ground at the base of my dresser. The rest of the flock stood by my door, laughing. Iggy seemed to be considering tackling me and starting a brawl, but abstained probably since Ella was watching.

Why were we back to our old habits so soon? Dr. M has alarm clocks!

I glared at Gazzy, albeit relieved that we were safe.

_Max_. I didn't hear her laugh. I would've noticed if she laughed, because it's one of the few things that can bring a true smile to my face. It was a true work of art.

I looked over his Gazzy, who had gotten up and was dusting some black powder off his shorts, and scanned the flock for Max. As I feared, she wasn't here.

I couldn't survive without Max, and we both knew it. I needed her around more than anything else in the world, even if just as a friend. Still, I liked her as much more than just a friend.

I had told the Flock yesterday: We would look for Max today if she didn't show up.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and checked my watch. 8:03 stared back at me.

"Kitchen in fifteen. Gotta get ready," I told the Flock.

The whole time I was putting on clothes, I was thinking about Max. What could have happened to her? I decided to make a mental list:

Max ran away.Max was captured.Max was killed.Max is hiding, and this was a long, elaborate scheme to make me realize I couldn't live without her.

Option one was the best of the four. If Max ran away, that means she's fine. Why would she run away though? She didn't hear me accidentally agree to go out with Brigid, right? I refused to think about it.

Option two would suck. Who would capture her? Itex is more or less dead, and we haven't heard from the School or Institute recently.

Options three and four can be considered one, because both will end with her dead. If she ran away or was capture, there was always hope. If she died, though, man, I don't know if life would be worth living.

No matter what happened, I would feel pain. There was no way around it. The last two days have been some of the hardest in my life. I couldn't stop thinking about Max. I tried to be strong for the Flock's sake, but I was going out of my mind with worry.

After I put on my black coat, I slowly walked through the hallway and into the kitchen where the Flock and Ella were waiting for me. I took my place at one end of the table. I wasn't used to being a leader, but I was forced to step up when I left Ari and Max and took Iggy and Gazzy with me. A month ago, I would've tried to find a way to let someone else take charge. Now, I knew it was my duty to step up and lead the Flock.

"All right, guys, Max has been missing for two days now, so we have to find her. Ella and Total, I'm sorry, but we'll be flying long distances, so you'll have to stay behind. We'll leave at ten, so everyone can eat, get ready, or do whatever until then."

I looked each of them in the eye, "Are we clear?" I asked, firmly.

Nobody protested, not even Total. They all nodded, with a look of solemn determination in their eyes. Even little Angel looked ready to take on the world. I smiled mentally. This was exactly the attitude I had hoped for.

We all ate Iggy's bacon, which was delicious as usual. I offered to give him a hand to make up for ruining his bacon yesterday, but he waved me off, muttering something along the lines of 'don't wanna burn the house down'.

When we were all gathered at the porch, including Ella who had come to see us off, I told them all my plan. Angel insisted on bringing along a red crystal, which she claimed to have superpowers. It seemed small enough, so I let it slide.

"So, we're going to fly northeast for a few hours, looking for anything suspicious or Max-related," I announced, "I'll decide what happens next. Capiche?"

I didn't want to act like an army general, but Max's life could be at stake. We didn't have time for messing around. I remembered when Angel was captured by the School. Even Iggy and Gazzy got their act together enough for us to pull through and successfully come out alive. I hoped they would approach this situation with the same mindset. Iggy especially looked determined to succeed.

I opened up my wings, and the rest followed suit. We took off in perfect unison and arranged ourselves in a V-shape with me at the tip. With five fliers, we could form a perfect V.

We're going to find you, Max, wherever you are. And if necessary, we're going to save you.

* * *

**Ella's POV**

An hour before the flock would have to leave, Iggy came into my room.

"Hey, Ells, we have to talk."

I looked at him, "About what?"

Iggy looked at me, a serious but gentle expression on his face. "Angel told me how you felt around us. I wanted you to know that I love you, wings or no. It doesn't matter to me whether you're fully human or not. You could be part seahorse, for all I care. I love you the way you are. No matter what, you're still Ella, the girl I love."

Wait, what? He said he loved me? Was I dreaming?

I looked up at him, wide-eyed and lovestruck.

Iggy place his hands on my shoulders, "Yes, I meant it. I love you, Ella," he said as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. His lips felt electric on mine. I felt like I couldn't get enough of him. I pulled him closer, kissing him harder, and he responded by wrapping his legs around my waist. I wanted to lie here forever, in Iggy's arms.

After a few minutes of pure bliss, he pulled away. I knew he had to go.

"I promise I'll come back, Ella. Don't miss me too much," he said with a wink.

I stood on my tiptoes and gave him one last kiss on the cheek before following him to the porch, where he would leave with the flock.

* * *

**Max's POV**

I woke up, completely surrounded in darkness. How was I not dead? The last thing I remembered was knowing I was about to die and falling from the sky. The impact should've killed me instantly. I knew that someone, or something, had saved me.

Could it have been Fang? I felt a spark of hope before realizing that it couldn't have been him. I could fly much faster than him, and there was no way he flew the exact same route I did and followed me for an entire day. Besides, Angel couldn't fly for more than six consecutive hours, and Fang would insist on bringing everyone along if he decided to look for me.

Now that my initial shock was gone, I had the presence of mind to wonder, where was I? It was probably far from Arizona. It would take the Flock a day and a half at best to travel the distance I had, even if they could pinpoint where I was. There was no way they could do that, so it was up to me to return home.

Why did I even do this? Max, the leader and rational thinker of the flock, just risked her life over a bunch of high school boy drama. What have I become?

I heard a noise to my left. Was someone here?

I crawled closer to where I thought the noise came from, ignoring the pain in my wings with every stride, but they didn't move again.

Suddenly, whatever it was sprang to its feet and shone a flashlight in my face. Instinctively, I covered my face and backed up. Whoever it was took the flashlight out of my face and pointed it at the ground.

I dared to look. A blonde haired girl with fair skin and blue eyes stood ten feet away from me. She had an all-too-familiar upturned nose and ears that were so flat against here head they were more or less invisible.

I couldn't believe who was here.

"LISSA?!" I whisper-yelled.

She nodded, "Are you alright, Max?"

"Wh-what the-" Lissa held a finger to her lips.

"Let me explain. Sam and I," I turned around. Sure enough, Sam was lying on the hard floor, hopefully just asleep. "We were on our way to grab some dinner when we saw you falling from the sky. We flew towards you and grabbed your arms right before you hit the ground. I let go before I landed on you, but Sam wasn't so lucky. He got trapped under you and his wings got smashed against the ground. He'll be fine, but I'm not sure if he can fly," she explained. I shuddered. If they came a split-second later, I would've been dead for sure.

Lissa and Sam had wings? Since when?

As if reading my mind, Lissa went on, "We got the 2% bird treatment by the School, just like you. When you guys escaped from the School after Angel was captured, we escaped too. When the scientists were going after you guys, Sam and I snuck out, ran around the building, and took off the other way. We lived in Virginia for a few months before moving to Ontario." To prove her avian DNA, she opened up her wings. They were a little longer than mine, about 14 feet, and were bright gold to match her blonde hair. Wait, blonde hair?

"Since when did you have blonde hair?" I asked, out of all the more important questions I could have.

"I've always had blonde hair. I just dyed it red when your flock was in Virginia. Sam and I lived together for a few months in the woods before coming here."

"Where are we? Why is it so dark?"

"We're in Canada, just north of Quebec. We had just lost them when we saw you."

"Lost who?"

She grimaced, "A pack of Erasers. You won't believe it, but School's in. They're making new Erasers even stronger than before. The ones chasing us can fly quickly, are agile, and are actually smart."

I shuddered. The previous models were always missing something. These sounded pretty complete and formidable.

Behind me, I heard Sam get up. His wings were extended, and they looked just like Iggy's: tan and long. They had to be at least 14 feet.

He groaned, "My wings," he muttered.

Lissa walked over to him and looked at them. She felt the inside of one of them, and Sam winced. After a little more inspecting, she announced gently, "They're healing, but it'll be at least a few hours before you can fly again."

Sam sighed, looking down.

"It's fine. I can't fly either for a few hours," I offered. It was true. My wings still hadn't fully recovered from my flight. I tried to stretch them out, but it was too painful to extend them.

Sam looked at me, "Max," he croaked.

I smiled, "Yeah. Thanks, Sam. You saved my life."

He nodded, "N-no problem."

I turned back to Lissa, "So, what is this place?"

Lissa replied, "We found an abandoned building a few miles from where you, um, landed. We had to find a place to hide for the night."

I nodded, "Thanks, Lissa. I owe you one, big time."

She smiled. "Don't mention it," she said.

I couldn't help notice how different she was from when our unfortunate incident in Virginia occurred. A thought had been nagging at me our whole conversation. I decided to settle it, "Lissa, one more thing. Why did you kiss Fang in the hallway back at the school?"

I was prepared for her to get mad, or at least get defensive, but she just laughed.

"I did it for a reason, Max. Don't worry about it. Sam and I have been together since our dog crate days. Fang is yours." She looked at Sam, and they both laughed.

Wait, what? Lissa and Sam were dating? Lissa still didn't explain why they did what they did in Virginia. Whatever. I'd figure it out later.

* * *

**Fang's POV**

Quebec. At least we knew where to go now. Angel told us. How she knew beats me. Could it have been the crystal that was apparently enchanted?

How the hell did Max get so far in two days? Did her captors take her there? That was the only possibility. That meant that we'd have to get there fast. Even at top speed, it would take us at a day to get to Quebec. Angel could only go 500 miles at a time, so we'd have to land at least three times on the way.

We're on our way, Max.

* * *

**Max's POV**

After Lissa, Sam, and I ate breakfast at a McDonalds in the city, we decided to stock up on food for the trip, in case we couldn't find any later. Sam wanted to bring some extra dried apples, but Lissa wanted to save the rest of our money. When Sam tried to protest, Lissa quickly shut him up with a kiss. Even though Sam lost the argument, he didn't seem to mind. I smiled. Maybe that would work on Fang.

Fang. A fresh burst of pain struck my heart. I had forgotten about him for a few hours, but unsurprisingly, he crossed my mind again. I stumbled backwards. Sam caught me before I could fall.

"Max?" Sam said in a soft, concerned tone.

"I-I'm fine," I managed. Sam reluctantly released his hold on me.

I sighed. Fang didn't like me anymore. He never did. This whole time, he'd just thought of me as another one of his fangirls who happened to live in the same house as him.

I tried to let go of my feelings towards him, but it wasn't easy. Every time I tried to think of him as just a friend, my mind would snap back to the kisses we shared. As much as I tried to deny it, I _did_ like Fang.

Around noon, we began flying back to Arizona. Lissa and Sam insisted on accompanying me back, in case of an Eraser attack. I wasn't complaining. Alone, I doubted I could take more than three of the new Erasers at a time. The three of us, however, could take out at least a dozen.

Lissa and Sam flew right next to each other, their wings beating in perfect harmony. I'll admit, they looked perfect together. I was interested in learning more about their past, but I decided to let them enjoy their time together.

As I flew, I got lost in thought. I remembered Ari, Jeb's son. He had tried to kill the Flock and I a million times, until he joined our cause. He died a hero for us in the Battle at Itex.

I thought of Fang and all the scathing things I planned to say to him once I got back. I had given up on trying to keep him out of my head.

Around five hours after we left, I heard a loud cry below us, "THERE THEY ARE!"

Lissa and Sam snapped to attention. "Did you hear that?" Sam said to me.

I nodded. How couldn't I hear it? Any normal human would be able to hear it. A mutant with super hearing would definitely pick up on it.

We looked down. Below us were thirty or so Erasers, spiraling upwards to meet us.

"SPLIT!" I yelled, as the Erasers reached us. Lissa flew to my left, and Sam flew right.

An Eraser appeared in front of me. I kicked in the chest, then spun around and gave it a strong roundhouse kick to the head. It dropped like a rock, taking down another Eraser with it. Both of them splattered as they hit the pavement below. Two down, about twenty-eight to go.

I looked at my friends, and Lissa and Sam were holding their own. Sam punched one in the mouth and side-kicked another one without turning around. Lissa did a flip in mid-air and landed on an Eraser. Where did they learn to fight like that?

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. An Eraser had taken advantage of my being distracted and slugged me hard.

I stumbled forwards, grasping my shoulder. I was injured, and Lissa and Sam couldn't hold off 25 Erasers for long.

I had no chance of fighting. It was taking all my willpower to keep myself from falling apart there and letting death consume me. While I still could, I flew away in search of a place to land. Unfortunately, three Erasers pursued me. I was faster than them, but I wouldn't last long.

Just before I was about to pass out from exhaustion, I heard several startled screams behind me. Did someone shoot the Erasers? Lissa and Sam were still in combat. I turned around and gasped. They couldn't be here…

"Miss us, Max?" Fang said, smirking. Even though we were still in a fight, I couldn't help but notice that his windswept hair looked perfect on him, especially during a sunset in the air. I wanted to just kiss him hard, right then and there.

The rest of the flock was right behind him. They all looked happy to see me. I couldn't believe they had come to save me after I just left them.

Forgetting what Fang had done to me, I rushed forward and hugged him hard. I missed his warm, comforting touch more than I'd ever admit to him. The rest of the Flock joined us.

A loud shriek brought us back to attention. We all pushed away simultaneously. I turned around. Lissa was trying her best to fend off the Erasers, but she was completely surrounded. She tucked in her wings and dropped, trying to get away from them. Unfortunately, another Eraser was waiting below her. It landed a strong kick to her left wing, causing her to gasp in pain. Before she could right herself, the Eraser punched her in the face. She fell backwards, trying to open her wings, but her back muscles were too tight to open them. She let out a hopeless cry as she began to fall like a rock.

"Let's go, guys!" I yelled.

We all knew what to do. Fang and Iggy went after Lissa, Angel and Gazzy flew over to help Sam fight, and I, with a renewed force, flew around, taking out as many Erasers as I could.

The rest of the fight went smoothly. Lissa was safe on the ground, and the rest of us quickly mopped up the remaining Erasers.

Breathing hard, we all landed next to Lissa. For some reason, Angel didn't even look tired. She was holding a strange, red crystal in her hand.

As Lissa started to stir, I realized something. Fang didn't know who she was. Lissa had dyed her hair when Fang met her, and Fang couldn't have gotten a close look at her face while catching her. He would be in for a huge surprise when Lissa looked up.

Meanwhile, Fang and I exchanged stories, with the rest of the Flock chiming in with details Fang missed. Angel explained how they only needed to stop once, because the red crystal she was holding made her stronger. She had found out my location by reading my mind from 2,000 miles away.

I didn't tell him why I ran away, or that the other bird kid was Lissa, because I wanted to see the look on his face when he found out. I was too relieved to be angry with him. He wasn't getting off the hook, though. As soon as we got home, I'd beat the living daylights out of him.

He was a good listener. Nothing seemed to surprise him. He just nodded and sighed at various parts of the story.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lissa finally sat up. She looked Fang straight in the eyes. After a moment of unfamiliarity, Fang's eyes widened with recognition. He looked me, and I nodded. He sat there, unmoving, unable to say a word.

* * *

**Fang's POV**

I looked into the blonde girl's eyes, which were staring right back at me. Max told me she escaped with Sam from the school. Who was she? How did we not know about her?

A moment passed.

Suddenly, the realization hit me like a bucket of cold water. I looked at Max for confirmation. She nodded.

Now, I was usually calm, but this was different. I stared at her, wide-eyed, with my mouth hanging open.

Eventually, Max broke the silence. "So! I hope you guys enjoyed your little reunion. We should get moving now; we're still a day away from home."

Everyone nodded except for Lissa. "Sorry guys, but I won't be able to fly for a few hours. You guys can go on without me," she said, softly.

* * *

**Max's POV**

I shook my head, "No. We'll stay with you until you're healed." Nobody argued. Even Nudge, who was probably the most popular girl in her class by now, knew it was our duty to help her. Lissa had saved my life. I couldn't just ditch her. Besides, I wanted to know a little bit about her past.

For better or worse, it took Lissa just one hour to heal. Who knew Burger King could speed up a mutant's recovery process?

Even though it was great that Lissa healed quickly, it was a bittersweet blessing. We would be forced to part ways now. I really enjoyed their presence. Lissa was a lot like Ella in a way. They both exuded the same reserved confidence. Sam was pretty quiet, like Fang, but he was much easier to be around. However, I didn't like him as anything but a friend.

After not seeing him for two days, I realized how much I needed Fang. He was more than just a friend, or even a boyfriend (I wish). The Flock, especially Fang, and I have been through so much together, they had become a part of me. I wasn't whole without each and every one of them. Even so, Fang was still the closest to me. He'd seen me at my best and worst. He was the one person I knew I could turn to if all else failed. He was Fang, my best friend, now the love of my life. I was sure of it now. I had fallen for Fang Martinez.

Later, I finally decided to ask Lissa where she learned to fight. Jeb had taught the Flock and I. Without him, we would've been killed by Erasers ten times over by now. Lissa told me that she and Sam learned to fight by just training constantly. They were also being hunted by Erasers, but they blended in with the humans really well. The School wanted them back as well but had no way to track them. Their avian DNA did nothing for them besides their wings.

Lissa told us she and Sam had to get home before the Erasers attacked again. I asked if they would be safe, and Sam winked at me and said, "We took quite a few weapons from Itex. I think we'll be fine."

Something nagged at me, "Hey, where were you during the battle in Germany? I didn't see you guys," I asked.

Lissa explained, "Remember the last Flyboys that exploded against the electric net at the end? Well, their engineers tried to disable it, but Sam rigged the system so disabling it would instead double the net's electric power."

I raised my eyebrows at Sam. He outsmarted Itex's engineers? That wasn't easy to do.

He blushed, "It was nothing, " he said, as Lissa kissed his cheek.

"Well, thanks for everything. I guess you guys should probably get home now," I said, as I bear-hugged Lissa.

"We'll definitely see you guys again sometime," Sam said. We all nodded in agreement.

We said our goodbyes and left. Within seconds, we were high in the air, on our way home.

* * *

**How was it? This chapter took forever to write.**

**Please review! I'd love any comment, whether it be one word or one paragraph.**

**Question of the Chapter: Which POV is your favorite? I personally like Ella.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	8. Anything to Say?

**A/N-Hello, MR99 here. Before I say anything else, I would like to thank everybody who read this story so far. Big thank you to everyone who reviewed. I want to let all of you know how much of an effect the reviews have on me. I cherish every single review I get.**

** I passed the 500 view mark yesterday, which isn't much, but I'm happy. :) **

**I couldn't have done it without you readers! Thanks again for the support!**

* * *

**Fang's POV**

I flew back home in silence. The rest of the flock peppered Max with questions, but I didn't say a word.

I still wasn't sure why Max ran away. I had a gut feeling that it had to do with Brigid and I. I felt incredibly guilty. Max had nearly gotten herself killed because I couldn't control my mouth.

I was as lost as a sixteen-year-old bird kid could be. Should I suck it up and go see the movie with Brigid? Should I tell her I have other plans? Should I ask Max out?

I sighed. Fighting was so much simpler. With that, the only goal was to kill the enemy.

Girls, however, had more elements than just pure functionality. They had all kinds of mood swings making it impossible to guess how they'll react.

I'd take sixty Flyboys any day over having to deal with two girls and their complicated emotions.

Still, there was no doubt in my mind that Max was the girl I wanted. I didn't even like Brigid. I answered yes to her against my will.

When Max was gone, I realized something.

I loved Max.

Yes, I loved her. Not just your everyday high school crush, but I knew, with certainty, that Max was the girl I wanted to be with forever. I could only hope she felt the same way about me.

Being the shy guy I was, I wasn't sure how I'd get up the courage to confess my love for her. We were only sixteen, but I felt as ready as ever.

We arrived home mid-day the next morning. Ella was at school, but Total was waiting for us, meeting us in the air after spotting us from his perch on the roof. He flew into Angel's waiting arms, smothering her face with licks. I hated it when Total did that to me, but she didn't seem to mind. She was laughing madly, her blonde curls being swept back and forth by Total's tongue.

As soon as I opened the door, I felt a strong force push me forward. I didn't have time to brace my fall, so I hit my head on the floor.

"FANG!" Max yelled.

She stood above me, a nasty glare on her face.

"What?"

"WHY!?" she screamed, blinking back tears.

I stood up. "Huh?"

She grabbed me by the shirt collar and yanked me closer to her. My face was about six inches from hers. All I wanted to do lean down and kiss her right there, but now wasn't a good time. A pissed-off Max was a force to be reckoned with.

Choking up, she angrily whispered to me, "Br-brigid."

How in the world did she know? Either she overheard us or Brigid told her.

Either way, did she have to do this in front of the Flock?

I tried to explain, "Listen, Max. I didn't mean to say yes! I'm sorry! The words kinda just said themselves."

She responded by shoving me again. I collided with Iggy, taking him down with me. He yelped as he was crushed between the floor and I.

"Uh huh."

"I swear, Max! I didn't mean to say yes to her!" I held up my hands. "Angel?"

She looked up at Max. "He's telling the truth."

I sighed, relieved. Angel had come through for me.

Max shook her head. "I can't believe you, Fang. Everything that's happened between us over the past few months means nothing to you?"

I stared at her, shocked. "It means everything to me, Max!" I screamed desperately, without thinking.

"AWWWW!" Nudge yelled, jumping up and down.

I'm not sure whose glare was worse: Max's or mine.

Nudge covered her mouth and sat down. After shooting me one last glare, Max stormed off to her room.

I looked at Angel and smiled gratefully.

_Thanks, Angel_, I thought.

_You're welcome. You guys have to get together! You both love each other._

_Max loves me? Really?_

_Of course! Why else would she be mad about Brigid? She cried for a day straight over it._

I didn't respond. She had a point.

Max had cried for a day straight? She had cried less than five times before that in her life. I felt extremely guilty about it. I wanted to apologize to her and pretend everything was okay.

Still, I didn't know if I had the courage to go up and confess my love to her face after what I'd done to her. Even if she actually did love me, she'd probably punch me in the face and slam the door on me.

Since I had nothing better to do, I grabbed my book for English class and launched myself on the couch.

As soon as I landed, I heard a soft beepbelow me. Suddenly, the couch cushion I was lying on was launched at the ceiling with me on top of it. My book was thrown out the window, literally.

The cushion pinned me to the ceiling. Even with my enhanced strength, I couldn't even move the cushion. I tried to open my wings, but I didn't have enough room since my back was right next to the cushion.

"WHAT THE HELL! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I yelled.

Max wouldn't help me, Nudge, Angel, and Ella, who just walked through the door and spotted me on the ceiling, couldn't help me, and Iggy and Gazzy were too busy laughing their heads off to help. After all, why would they help me out of a prank they obviously set up? I could only lie there until someone got me out of there.

After a few minutes, Iggy pressed a button his remote control, releasing the cushion.

As the cushion fell to the floor with me on top of it, I kicked it away and opened my wings. I landed gracefully on the living room carpet.

I looked around for Iggy and Gazzy so I could teach them a lesson for what they did. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen. How could they have disappeared so quickly? Even us super-speedy mutants couldn't noiselessly hide within a second.

I walked down the hallway and checked inside Iggy's room. Nobody was there, but something else was.

In the center of the room, there was a weird, black contraption. It had about a million mirrors, levers, and buttons, and it was supported by a thick tripod.

When I was looking in my room upstairs, I heard a burst of laughter and a high-five from downstairs.

"Nice one, man!" Gazzy yelled.

"He never saw it coming!" Iggy responded, giving Gazzy a fist bump.

All right, that was it. I was seriously mad now. I stormed downstairs, heading for Iggy's room.

Unfortunately, the room was once again empty. I looked everywhere in the room, but nobody was in sight. I cursed silently and resumed looking for them.

After checking every room in the house except for Max's, I went outside.

Sure enough, the boys were in the driveway playing basketball. They were wearing all white.

"IGGY! GAZZY!" I yelled, running towards them.

They stopped playing and looked over. Gazzy tapped Iggy's hand twice, and they both took off running down the street. I followed them, gaining ground quickly.

Within three minutes, I was holding both of the boys by their shirt collars.

"Anything to say?" I asked, quietly but deadly.

The boys simply laughed in my face.

I reached back to push them to the ground, but before I even let go of their shirts, both boys disappeared. They just disappeared into thin air.

I looked around, shaking my head. How was that possible? They couldn't teleport, last I checked. Or become invisible.

I slowly walked back home, checking for any sign of the troublemakers. Maybe Nudge or Angel could help me.

When I got back home, the first thing I saw was Iggy and Gazzy eating bacon at the table. Iggy noticed me and motioned for Gazzy to turn around. I stalked towards them, determined to give it to them this time. As soon as I touched Gazzy, both boys disappeared into thin air, again. I gritted my teeth. What the hell was happening?

Seeing no point in pursuing them further, I gave up and decided to watch TV. I flipped to the sports channel. There was a good Thursday Night Football game on, Cardinals versus 49ers. They were in the first quarter and the game was tied. Since we lived in Arizona, I naturally rooted for the Cardinals.

I actually enjoyed watching football, and I made a resolution to watch it more often. Every time a player missed a catch above them, I imagined myself in their position, flying up to catch the ball.

During the third quarter, Iggy and Gazzy casually strolled into the room. This time, I learned my lesson. I let them sit on the couch next to me and watch the game.

Occasionally, they whispered stuff to each other. I picked up the words 'hoop', 'one mile', 'white', and 'two bases'.

I didn't have any idea what they were talking about, but I had a feeling it was important. I pretended to be interested in the game and listened more intently to what they were saying. Unfortunately, Iggy somehow noticed that I was listening to them. Iggy tapped Gazzy's hand twice, and they both stood up and left the room.

I ignored them and went back to watching football. After watching the Cardinals win on a last-second field goal and eating cereal for dinner (Bacon two days ago and cereal today? We have some strange habits.), I decided to turn in for the night.

Before falling asleep, though, I wanted to find out what Iggy and Gazzy had been up to today. They were acting strangely quiet, and had somehow managed to disappear into thin air twice. When did they even have time to build that thing in Iggy's room?

However, I compiled some information:

1) They disappeared into thin air twice.

2) They had an insane contraption in Iggy's room consisting of a crazy amount of mirrors.

3) They were both wearing all white.

4) They had reinforced the couch cushions with something, and were able to move it around with a remote control.

5) After they let me go, they both disappeared instantly. Probably the same way they disappeared the other times.

6) They said the words, 'hoop', 'one mile', 'white', and 'two bases'. This was probably irrelevant, but it was worth mentioning.

7) I also noticed a few other subconscious details probably not worth mentioning, such as that Iggy has had his left hand in his pocket a lot today. Both Iggy's and Gazzy's shirts were a little bit higher. It was a subtle difference, but I was positive that it was true.

For point one, I really had no explanation for it. I was pretty sure of one thing, though: it had something to do with the contraption in Iggy's room.

While I was trying to put the pieces together, something clicked.

It all made sense now.

All right, some of it was far-fetched, but I think I know just what happened.

* * *

**Haha cliffie! Any guesses to what happened? First guesser gets a shout out and a package of imaginary bacon!**

**Sorry about the short, fluffy chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it anyways. :)**


	9. Sweet Revenge

**Disclaimer: I do not own MR. JP does.**

* * *

**Fang's POV**

This was it. I had a plan to catch the troublemakers once and for all. But I would need help. And I would have to wait until after school.

In the meantime, I was stuck sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair for eight hours. Max wouldn't talk to me, and I tuned out everything the teacher said. This science class, instead of doing a lab, we just sat and took notes while Mr. Holland blabbed on and on about molecules. It was really hypocritical that I wasn't paying a lick of attention to the teacher, since I had agreed to go to school.

Finally, school was over. Without waiting for everyone else, I flew home. I landed in the driveway, right in front of the basketball hoop. I walked over to investigate it.

On the outside, it looked like an inconspicuous black pole holding the backboard up, but upon closer inspection it was covered with thousands of tiny black pieces of glass. There were wires running through the pole and two buttons on the hoop's base.

If my epiphany yesterday was correct, this was one of the Dynamic Duo's two teleportation bases. They could teleport to either here or Iggy's room from anywhere within a mile. Their white shirts were to cover the white teleportation machinery hidden on their bodies. Iggy had a remote control in his left pocket used to teleport him and Gazzy to either base. If all this was true, which it probably wasn't, the couch cushion stunt was a red herring just meant to annoy me.

This morning, I made a plan to get them back. First, I would corner them and force them to their room. I would back them up until they were forced to teleport to the hoop. While I went outside to pursue them, Ella and Nudge would be waiting to tackle Iggy and Gazzy once they teleported back to Iggy's room. I was really happy with my plan. It made me feel like an evil genius.

When I walked inside, Gazzy was already waiting on the couch, eating a bag of potato chips. He noticed me and smirked as he raised a remote control. He pressed a button which elevated the cushions under him several feet off the ground. I scowled and rolled my eyes as he popped a chip into his mouth from his mid-air couch.

To wait for Iggy, I sat in my room and lay on my bed. To most people, my black bed in the center of my black-walled room would have seemed intimidating and depressing. To me, the darkness felt inviting and welcoming. I was a dark person. 'Nuff said.

Ten minutes later, I heard the front door open. Could it be Ella and Iggy?

I got up and opened the door. I stuck my head out of my room and looked down the hallway. At the end stood Max, Nudge, and Angel. I breathed a sigh of disappointment. I was impatient to get revenge on Iggy and Gazzy. I couldn't do anything without the girls' help though. I casually walked down the hallway.

When Max saw me, she scowled and made a beeline for her room. Since her room was at the end of the hallway, she had to pass by my room first. Max didn't pass up the opportunity to shove me to the ground on her way.

Ignoring Nudge's and Angel's hushed laughter, I walked over to them. I knew that Angel knew exactly what I needed. I thought the entire plan in my head as vividly as I could. I was rewarded by a mental "That's awesome!" from Angel.

A minute later, I heard Angel speak again. _Nudge likes it. We just have to wait for Ella now._

As if on cue, Ella and Iggy walked through the door, big smiles pasted on their faces. Ella had tears forming in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Hey, Igster and Ellie Bear. What's happening?" Nudge asked.

Ella tried to speak, but ended up doubling over from laughter. Iggy caught her and rested her on a chair. She slumped against the back of it, unsuccessfully trying to subdue her laughter.

Iggy explained for her, "I was telling her about our life with Jeb. She especially liked the part where Max yelled at you for breathing."

Hearing that, a new wave of laughter hit Ella. Submitting, she rested her head on the table, her brown hair a complete mess.

After an awkward silence, Iggy turned around and headed for the door. Unfortunately for him, he ended up walking into the wall.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his forehead.

By this point, Ella had nearly passed out from sheer hilarity. The rest of us were laughing now as well. Before he could render her unconscious, Iggy carefully walked out of the room.

Ella was a vital piece of my plan, so Nudge, Angel, and I stuck around until she recovered.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Ella regained the presence of mind to look up at us with nothing more than a faint smile. As I watched, her smile grew until it was a full-out grin. She rubbed her hands together.

"Let's do this!" she exclaimed quietly.

Nudge, Ella, and Angel trotted off to wait in their room. I stood up and followed them out the door. I needed to find Iggy and Gazzy.

Gazzy had abandoned his post on the couch, but he forgot to put the cushions back. Three green couch cushions still hovered five feet in the air.

I walked under the couch cushions on my way to the back door. As soon as my feet hit the ground below the cushions, they collapsed on me and pinned me to the floor. Iggy and Gazzy popped up from behind the couch, grinning. They looked at one another and exchanged high-fives.

Fortunately, they left a little room between the cushions and me, so I wriggled out and escaped. I immediately leapt at them. Right before impact, they disappeared. I bounced off the couch springs all the way back to the kitchen.

Apparently they heard me crash into the table, because I heard the boys laughing from their room. I grinned. They had no idea what was coming.

I slowly stalked towards their ajar door. Before they could react, I kicked it open and spun into the room. They looked at each other casually, shrugged, and disappeared.

I couldn't help smiling. I slowly made my way to the front door as Ella, Nudge, and Angel swiftly but quietly made their way into Iggy's room, shutting the door behind them. I made sure they opened the blinds so I could get a good view of what was happening from outside.

Without warning, I sprinted out onto the driveway, where Iggy had literally released a blind three-pointer. Hearing me coming, he hastily reached into his pocket. After a second of fumbling, he and Gazzy vanished.

I whipped around. They had appeared in their room as I expected, where Ella, Nudge, and Angel were waiting. Nudge and Angel pinned Gazzy to the floor, and Ella tackled Iggy to his bed.

"WHAT THE F-" Iggy screamed, before going down. Ella was laughing playfully while shoving Iggy against his mattress repeatedly. Despite being defeated, Iggy was grinning and laughing along with Ella.

Meanwhile, Gazzy was hopelessly struggling against the girls. It was no contest. Nudge was smirking as she and Angel stuffed Gazzy in Iggy's closet and locked the door. Conveniently, the doors locked from the outside so Gazzy would be there to stay until Iggy bailed him out. At this point, though, Iggy didn't seem in any mood to bail anyone out. He and a tired Ella were lying on Iggy's bed with their arms wrapped around each other.

Through the window, I saw Max enter the room. "What in the WORLD is going on here?"

Ella and Iggy looked up guiltily. Nudge and Angel pretended not to hear Gazzy banging on the closet doors. The crazy madhouse a minute ago was now as silent as a courtroom.

"Well?" Max pressed, looking into everyone's eyes. Nobody moved a muscle. Suddenly, I thought of a brilliant idea. I had to act quickly though, before Max left.

I slipped through the front door and into Iggy's room silently like the ninja I am. Before Max could turn around, I tackled her on the bed right next to where Iggy was.

Everyone's solemn faces, including Max's melted instantly. Nudge and Angel were cheering me on while Max was glaring at me.

"Oh, no, you don't," she growled at me, shoving me onto the floor. I tucked into a roll and launched myself back at her. She nimbly avoided me at the last second, jumping up and landing on me. My breath was momentarily knocked away as her feet landed on my back. Just as quickly as she dodged my lunge, I rolled out from under her and delivered a swift sidekick to her legs. Unfortunately, she recovered quickly and shoved me into the wall. I ignored the fact that everyone's eyes were on us. I didn't care. I was mostly interested in breaking the tension between Max and I.

I slumped against the wall, pretending to be tired. She knelt in front of me and placed her hands around my neck.

"Any last words?" she snarled. I just looked at her.

To my surprise, she regarded me painfully sadly and slumped into my arms, all fight gone. I took this as an excuse to put my arm around her. I ran my fingers through her long, smooth, brown hair. Looking over her shoulder, I saw the rest of the Flock looking at us apprehensively. I glared at each of them save for Iggy, and they flocked out of the room.

Max was still collapsed in my arms. What was the meaning of this? The always-strong Max is having a breakdown over nothing?

"What's up?" I asked seriously.

"Just..tired," she muttered faintly.

She didn't even have to look at me for me to know that it was emotional exhaustion. Was this whole Brigid debacle such a big deal? I didn't want to go any more than she didn't want me to go. I made it clear yesterday that I liked her, not Brigid.

"Hey, Max. I told you yesterday, I'll tell you again that I don't like her. At all. I just-" I explained desperately, until Max put her hand over my mouth. She looked nothing like she did a second ago. Her fierce eyes fixed their gaze on mine.

"I don't want to hear your stupid excuses. By the way, the guy in front of you in history, Jonathan, is going to keep me company while you have your alone time with Brigid." She trotted out of the room.

I gaped at her. I felt like she stabbed me in the heart. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Refusing to think about what she said, I sulked back to my room. Without even eating dinner, which I was well-known to never miss, I plopped down on my bed and passed out instantly.

* * *

**Sorry about another short chapter. I just wanted to finish what I started last chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	10. Getting Caught

**Hello everyone! Thanks for reading and the wonderful reviews! **

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this every chapter? Nobody reads these things... For the lawyers' sake, I don't own Maximum Ride. James Patterson does. **

**Warning: This chapter is mostly Eggy fluff.**

* * *

**Iggy's POV**

After Fang sent us out of my room, I stalked down the hallway to the kitchen, thinking about what had just happened. Man, that was an epic prank. When we lived in Colorado, Gazzy and I were thinking about how to build a teleportation machine. After about a billion hours of fiddling with mirrors and lasers, we found a way to instantly teleport two people up to a mile. I'd prefer not to divulge the details.

Constructing the machine was easy. Connecting us with it was not. It took another billion hours to create a jacket kind of like a laser tag vest, just smaller, that could contain our energy well enough to be transferred. We strengthened it enough to ensure a virtually perfect outcome every time. It would suck majorly if my head stayed behind. The vests were controlled by a remote in my left pocket.

When we got it to work, though, Gazzy and I knew that this would be the best stunt we'd ever done. We didn't really have an idea of who we'd use it on until Fang got all serious about his stupid dates and stuff. It looked like he needed a distraction, so we sprung it on him. As he found out, we also reinforced the couch cushions with anti-mutant metal and strapped a super strong motor to it so it could move quickly. We could've kept him pinned to the ceiling for literally forever, but Gazzy wanted to cut him a break. Besides, we wanted our teleportation machine to seem epic compared to the lame cushion work.

Even though he figured us out after a day, gathered forces, and cornered us in my room, it was a blast. I got jumped by Ella. Even though I could've easily fought back, I let her push me on the bed and bounce me up and down. Why would I want to pass up an opportunity like that? I've done a billion stupid things in my life, but I wasn't screwing that up.

When I got in the kitchen, I opened the fridge and felt the all-too-familiar blast of cold air. After my endeavors in my room, it felt awfully good. I opened it wider and stepped closer. After sufficiently cooling myself down, I reached my hand into the fridge and felt around for bacon. Sure enough, five packages were leaned against the back of the bottom drawer. I pulled them out and started cooking.

As soon as I set them next to the stove, I heard Max talking from my room. She was speaking quietly, but I made out, "keep me company while you have your alone time with Brigid." I froze. Huh. I had no idea what to make of it, and it classified as a girl problem, so I let it be.

I ripped open the bacon packages and oiled the skillet. Thankfully, Dr. M had a supersized skillet that spanned two stovetops. I guess she planned for us well.

After perfectly cooking a massive stack of sizzling bacon, I called everyone out to the table. Everyone came except for Fang. His absence bothered me. Fang had never missed a meal in his life, and he wasn't here. Eh, he was probably just humiliated that a blind guy and a little kid completely embarrassed him. He didn't know it, but we had a bunch of pictures of his endeavors. If we could get Nudge to hack into his blog so we could post the pictures, that would be an awesome way to end the prank.

"Here's to never growing up!" Nudge yelled, stabbing her bacon with a fork. Everybody groaned, including Dr. Martinez. Would Nudge cut that out? It's bad enough that I have to hear it on the radio, but the Nudge Channel replaying it would make life hell. At least the radio runs out of power every so often.

After we finished, I got up from my seat and returned to my room, which Fang and Max would hopefully have vacated. Fortunately, it was devoid of any mutants or humans. I was about to take a big leap onto my bed when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I quickly turned around, muscles tensed.

"Hey, Iggy," Ella said sweetly. I relaxed my muscles and smiled.

"Hey," I responded, wrapping her in a hug. She buried her face in my shirt and hugged me back. We just stood there for a moment, savoring each other. It felt beyond amazing to have Ella in my arms, her chest slowly rising and falling with her breaths. I stroked her hair and she snuggled closer to me. She eventually pulled away slightly while still standing in my arms.

"So," she whispered, looking up at me, "can you take me to the roof again?"

"Of course," I whispered back. I knew there was no way I could refuse her. If she asked me to jump off the roof with my wings tucked in, I probably would have obliged. Besides, our night on the roof was the best night of my life. I smiled, remembering how perfect Ella's lips felt on mine.

She smiled even wider and took my hand. She led me out of the house and into the driveway. I let go of her and backed up twenty feet.

I got a running start and picked up Ella. I unfurled my wings and took to the sky. After flying in a circle around the house holding an ecstatically laughing Ella, I landed in the middle of the roof.

I leaned against the side of the chimney with Ella still resting in my arms. She was sitting perpendicular to me in my lap with her side leaned against me. I had my arms around her, as well as my wings around both of us. At the moment, my only desire was to hold and adore Ella.

She shifted in my arms, turning to face me. She leaned up suddenly and smashed her lips to mine. I put my arm around her head and pulled her closer. She kissed me harder, and I responded by wrapping my other arm around her waist. We kissed passionately for a minute until oxygen became an issue. As soon as we had time to take a breath, I put my lips back on hers. This kiss was less passionate and more loving. It felt like we were one person together rather than two people. I wished that we could just lay here forever.

Midway through the kiss, Ella's hands snaked underneath my shirt. She slowly pushed it up and pulled back from our kiss just long enough to yank off my shirt. Her eyes widened as she got a clear view of my abs. Her outstretched finger traced my chest as I began to work with her green shirt. The shirt was tight, so I had to be careful to not take anything else off.

By now, Ella's soft hands were all over my bare chest. She planted a kiss on my neck as I wrestled with her shirt. After a bit of struggling, I finally managed to pry it off. Unfortunately, I couldn't have picked a worse time to.

"IGGY! ELLA!" Max yelled, standing on the edge of the roof.

I immediately retracted my wings and pushed away from Ella. She gasped in shock as she scrambled backwards across the roof.

"IGGY! YOU IDIOT! Ella is my sister! What did you do to her?" Max screamed at me, panicked.

"I made him, Max!" Ella cried, standing up. Max grabbed Ella's shirt from my hands and held it in front of Ella.

"You made him do this?" Max said, smug but shocked. Ella looked around the roof for my shirt.

"I started it, Max. He didn't do anything!" Ella explained protectively.

"He took off your shirt! How was he _not doing anything_?" Max shrieked. Ella couldn't think of something to say to that.

"I-I took his off first," she managed. Max growled and stalked towards me.

"I thought I could trust you, Iggy. She's 14! She's supposed to be in middle school, and your hands are already all over her."

"We didn't do anything!" I cried, desperately. Max could and would kick my butt.

Max raised her arm and chucked Ella's shirt back at me. It hit me square in the face. Despite the circumstances, I couldn't help taking a long whiff of the shirt. It smelled distinctly of Ella-ishness. Nothing could compare to it.

I peeled Ella's shirt off of my face and handed it back to her. She carefully put it on. I apprehensively waited for Max's next move.

"This is the last time this happens. If I see or hear about you guys going this far again, you guys are not to see each other again," Max announced, "Wait, never mind the last part. Just don't do this again!" She stomped her foot in frustration as she leaped off of the roof.

I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I stood there in shock until I felt a comforting hand grasp mine.

"Iggy, you didn't do anything and we both know it. It doesn't matter what Max thinks. I love you, and that's all that matters to me."

"I love you too, Ella," I whispered. She gave my hand a squeeze and nestled her head under mine. Even though all I wanted to do was sit down and enjoy another few minutes with Ella, we really did have to go back inside. Dr. M would be worrying about us. I wrapped my arms around her waist tightly as I spread my wings. I jumped off the roof and landed on the porch. Ella squirmed out of my grip and opened the door. Just like last time, Dr. Martinez was waiting for us. She did not look happy.

"Where were you guys? Don't run off at 10 o' clock next time without telling someone!" she scolded.

"Just chilling on the roof," I replied.

"The roof!? How did Ella get there?"

"Um, I flew her there."

Dr. Martinez finally took a breath. "All right. Just be careful and tell someone before you go next time."

Ella and I both nodded, "Will do!" she said. Dr. M turned around and headed to her room. Ella and I followed her down the hallway. Right before she went into her room, Ella turned around, stood on her tiptoes, and gave me a quick kiss.

"Good night, Iggy." I was frozen in place, barely noticing that Ella went back to her room. Dazed, I slowly and unsteadily hobbled back to my room. Even though I was going to sleep, sleeping was the last thing on my mind. I couldn't think of anything else but my moments on the roof with Ella, and I didn't want to. I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life in a universe where my lips rested on Ella's forever.

_I love you, Ella_, I thought as I drifted off.

* * *

**So how was it? Reviews are loved! Thanks for reading! **


	11. In the Mall

**Chapter 10 already? Wow. I made this one a bit longer for you guys.**

**25 reviews! Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. **

**Sorry for the late chapter, I was deciding whether to bunch another scene onto this, and decided against it. I really like the ending of this one :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR. James Patterson does. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this.**

**Claimer: I do own the OC's in this story. **

**Here you go:**

* * *

**Ella's POV**

Looking at the posters of actors and models in my room, I couldn't help letting out a small chuckle. They were famous for their looks, and they _were_ hot, but they had absolutely NOTHING on Iggy. Most of them had gorgeous hair and eyes, but they all seemed fake, in a way. Besides, Iggy was a billion times sweeter and nicer. He'd never pull any of the stunts or be the player that so many celebrities were.

As I ate a late breakfast with Iggy, I couldn't stop thinking about last night. Twelve hours later, it still felt like Iggy's strong arms were still around me and his beautiful lips on mine. His amazing abs were still burned in the front of my mind, and I didn't plan on getting rid of the images. On the roof, all I wanted was to melt into his arms and lay there for eternity.

At fourteen, I never dreamed I'd feel this way so strongly about someone so soon, but I was sure that Iggy and I were meant to be together. Being with him just felt so _right_. I'd had crushes on cute guys before, but none of them had the same effect on me as Iggy. Whenever he smiled, I felt a powerful urge to pin him to the wall and kiss the smile off his face. His mere touch sent a thousand volts of energy coursing through my nerves.

Through the love, though, I still felt a little resentment. Even though I loved Iggy and the Flock, I wished I had wings like them. It pained me to see them so free, flying the skies, since I knew I could never be like them. I tried to push the negative thoughts out of my mind. They accepted me as family, so why I couldn't accept that they had wings?

I sat down on the couch, ignoring the warnings Fang gave us. I knew my Iggy wouldn't send any flying couch cushions my way. I lay down across its length and pulled out my phone. After spending tons of time with my boyfriend the past few days, I really wanted to just chill with my friends. I quickly typed up a text message and hit send.

* * *

**To: Jessica Amador**

**Hey hey what up gurl? :D Any plans for today?**

* * *

**From: Jessica Amador**

**Hey! So Alexa, Claire, Amanda, and I were gonna hit the mall near your house this afternoon. Wanna come?** **We're spending the night at Claire's dad's afterwards.**

* * *

Besides Alexa and Jessica, Claire and Amanda were also my best friends. I was closer with Alexa and Jessica since I'd known them longer, but Claire and Amanda were now just as much a part of our group.

Alexa was tall and had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. Jessica looked a lot like me, with medium-length brown hair, brown eyes, and a contagious smile. Claire was generally regarded as the smart one of us, since she was taking a bunch of classes with the juniors and seniors. Her wild, light brown hair always got in her eyes. For some reason, though, she hated hairties and headbands. Amanda had long black hair and dark brown eyes.

* * *

**To: Jessica Amador**

**Ya sounds good! When are we meeting?**

* * *

**From: Jessica Amador**

**5 at Abercrombie. B-t-dubs, how's Iggy?**

* * *

**To: Jessica Amador**

**Haha tell ya later gurl! :P**

* * *

I smiled. I'd definitely tell them all about Iggy, but not on the phone. It didn't feel right to divulge personal details via text message. I trusted my friends, but I'd rather tell them in person. Plus, I was secretly excited to see their jealous faces when I tell them that Iggy and I made out on the roof. I had to be careful, though, to not my friends about Iggy's wings. Even though they were mentioned on Fang's Blog, my friends probably hadn't made the connection that my boyfriend was the Iggy.

* * *

**From: Jessica Amador**

**No! You must tell me now, Ella! Have you two kissed yet? **

* * *

**To: Jessica Amador**

**Jessica, what part of ****_tell ya later_**** isn't clear?**

* * *

**From: Jessica Amador**

**Meh, fine, Ells. I can't wait for tonight! Claire's dad has an awesome movie theater!**

* * *

**To: Jessica Amador**

**Ikr! Can't wait! Gotta go spend some quality time with Iggy now :P 3**

* * *

**From: Jessica Amador**

**Have fun! Don't let Iggy do anything stupid!**

* * *

Okay, she had no right to that last comment. She was single now, but her last boyfriend, Brad, was a gangster who beat up everyone who pissed him off. Alexa was always worried that Jessica would get beaten up, so she was secretly thankful when Brad dumped Jessica, a shy, sweet girl for a one of the school's whores, Bella.

Jessica was torn up, but Alexa, Amanda, Claire, and I helped her through it, and after four months, she's almost as good as new. It killed us to see our usually cheerful Jessica moping around, sobbing constantly. We all felt bad for her, especially how she found out her and Brad were through. Jessica walked in on Brad and Bella making out in a classroom after school. She needed to grab a textbook she forgot, and unfortunately was in for a less than pleasant surprise.

Anyways, Iggy would never do that to me. I hoped. If I saw Iggy kissing someone else, I'd be damaged irreparably. I could never love anyone the same way again. Thankfully, Iggy was way too sweet and kind to cheat on me.

I made my way over to his room and popped open the door. Iggy turned around.

"Who is it?" he asked, in the general direction of the door. I answered by planting a soft, quick kiss on his lips. He smiled in recognition.

"So, what do you want to do today?" I mused.

Iggy threw up his hands. "Well, Fang and I were gonna go for a fly, but all he wants to do right now is sit in his room and stare at the wall. I think I'll go make some bombs with Gazzy." I looked down, disappointed.

Then I realized something. Since Iggy and I had been officially together, he'd been spending so much less time with the Flock. It dawned on me how selfish I was being, hogging Iggy to myself.

"Okay. Be careful," I said softly, turning around. Iggy frowned, knowing something was wrong, but let me go. I walked to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. Thanks to Gazzy, we were fresh out of potato chips, so I took out an apple and began munching on it. On my way to the table, I absently checked the clock. It read 4:51.

I quickly finished the apple and headed back to my room. Looking in the mirror, I realized that I was still in my pajamas.

"Crap," I mumbled, as I changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I stuffed the pajamas into my pink overnight bag. I quickly applied a dab of mascara and slid my makeup kit into the bag. After slinging it over my shoulder, I pulled out my phone and tapped my ongoing conversation with Jessica.

* * *

**To: Jessica Amador**

**Sorry gurl, gonna be a bit late.**

* * *

**From: Jessica Amador**

**It's fine! Just meet us at Abercrombie whenever.**

* * *

I put my phone in my pocket and opened the front door.

"Where are you going, Ella?" my mom called, from the kitchen.

"Mall! Be back tomorrow morning!" I yelled back. My mom didn't respond but gave me a nod.

I shut the door behind me and started on my way.

* * *

Ten minutes later, I was at the entrance of the one of the mall's stores. Racks of overpriced clothing and accessories were present literally everywhere here. Ignoring the flashing signs, I made my way through the store as quickly as possible. I loved shopping, but I really couldn't stand this store. Did the store management stoop so low so as to have to resort to flashing signs to grab customers' attentions?

I left the store and headed to Abercrombie. When I was a few hundred feet away, I spotted my friends. I picked up the pace, quickly walking to join them.

Suddenly, a guy about my age stepped in my path and looked me up and down. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, like Iggy. Unlike Iggy, this guy made me really uncomfortable checking me out.

I stopped. "How may I help you?" I questioned, with a hint of sarcasm. He smiled.

"You're kinda pretty. Can I have your number?" he said, holding out his phone to me.

I nodded, holding back a smile. I made a new contact in his phone, In Your Dreams. I typed nine random numbers and ended up with 197-481-8948. After going back to the home screen, I gave his phone back to him.

He broke into a full-blown grin. "Thanks, girl. I'll call you later!" he said, walking away from me. If he only knew what he was in for. I walked over to my friends, not holding back my laughter.

"What'd you do this time, Ellie?" Amanda asked me, as she wrapped me in a hug.

"Luckily for him, I didn't beat him up. I just wrote 'in your dreams' in his phone with a random number," I explained.

My friends began laughing. At the other end of the long mall hallway, I saw the guy I pranked suddenly stop.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" he yelled, turning around. I hid behind Alexa. My friends looked at me, and I nodded. They started laughing again.

"Oh man, Ella, that one was good," Claire said. I nodded and giggled.

"Let's go in," I suggested, gesturing to the store in front of us. A bunch of customers inside were glaring at us. We'd already caused quite a blockage.

"Oops," Jessica mumbled.

My friends followed me as I made my way through the racks of clothing, looking for anything that stood out. As usual, Amanda was completely enthralled by every single rack in the store. Before she could get to the men's underwear section, I figured we should get out of this store. She loved shopping at all places, but Abercrombie especially made her crazy.

"Amanda, let's go. There are a million other stores here," I said, giving her sleeve a tug.

She looked distraught. "But there are so many cute shirts here!" she wailed, slightly resisting my pull.

"C'mon, Amanda. There's a Forever 21 downstairs," Claire suggested, smiling. She was always smiling.

Amanda sighed. "Fine," she mumbled.

Alexa led us out of the store, ignoring the manager's sigh of relief. The accidental blockade we set up earlier probably costed him a bunch of customers.

Before we reached the escalator, another store caught Alexa's eye.

"Hey! We should get some chocolate!" Alexa practically shouted at us, as she walked towards the candy store. Amanda and I looked at each other and shrugged. We were generally regarded as the leaders of the group, although I was a year younger than them. Almost everything we did didn't require a leader, so nobody paid any attention to it.

When we got in, Alexa was disappointed to find out they had no chocolate.

"Are you serious? What kind of candy store doesn't have chocolate?" she yelled at the clerk.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, we're just out of stock right now. If you come back in a few days, we might have some," the clerk responded, calmly.

"A FEW DAYS? What, do you expect us to sleep here or what?"

"Miss, we're out of stock. There's nothing I can do about that."

"Fine," Alexa huffed, turning around.

"It's all right, Alex. You can get your chocolate somewhere else," Claire suggested.

"I guess so," Alexa said sadly, "but what kind of candy store doesn't have chocolate? They deserve payback for deceiving innocent shoppers!"

"Let's go," I decided. We'd already ticked off two cashiers, and there was no sense in making one of them even madder.

"Wait a minute. I'm gonna get some jelly beans," Alexa said, with a smile.

"All right."

Alexa disappeared into the small crowd flowing through the aisles. A minute later, she returned to us, carrying a bag with one jelly bean in it. Claire, Jessica, and I just stared at her. Amanda gave her a big thumbs up.

With her head held high, Alexa walked over to the cash register, bag in hand. She handed it to the cashier with a smile. Glaring at Alexa, the cashier disgustedly placed the bag on the scale. It read, 0.002 pounds. Jessica saw the reading and laughed.

"That will be one cent," the cashier said, trying to control his frustration.

"Do you take credit cards?" Alexa asked, feigning innocence.

"Only from legal adults," the cashier explained, narrowing his eyes at her.

In mock disappointment, Alexa sighed. "Oh, well. It seems like the only other option is this," she said, opening her wallet. She pulled out a $100 bill and handed it across the counter. That was the last straw. Claire, Amanda, and I burst out laughing. Even the usually quiet Jessica was failing at suppressing her giggling.

The clerk was having evident difficulty restraining his anger. Glaring at us, he picked up his phone and pushed a few buttons.

"Hello? This is James. There is a pack of teenagers causing trouble out here," he began. He paused, waiting for a reply. He frowned, clearly not liking what he was hearing. "Wait, but-" he continued, before getting cut off. His line went dead. Frustrated, he slammed his phone down and grabbed Alexa's bill.

He slowly counted out $99.99. After a tense thirty seconds, he handed it to Alexa and gave her a dismissive wave.

"Don't come back!" he yelled after us.

Alexa counted her change and chuckled to herself as she walked away. She tucked the money in her wallet and happily whispered to us, "Gave me an extra 20!"

Normally, I would offer to return it, but this clerk was a jerk. I was more than happy for Alexa to have this money she didn't own. As we reached the store's threshold, Alexa froze, a grin plastered to her face.

"HEY PEOPLE! THE CANDY STORE SUCKS! DON'T SHOP THERE!" Alexa screamed. Even though it was in jest, the comment had its desired effect. People began drifting away from the candy shop. The clerk gave Alexa one more glare before disappearing into the backroom.

At the end of the hallway, I noticed a mall policeman slowly walking in our general direction. The noise probably set him off.

"Let's move! Police!" I alerted my friends. We inconspicuously sped up and located the nearest escalator. Fortunately, we had quite a bit of experience pulling stunts in the mall. As a unit, we all swiftly sped through the crowd and boarded the escalator. The policeman didn't notice a thing. We made it down the elevator and put plenty of distance between us and the policeman without raising suspicion.

Suddenly, Alexa stopped in her tracks and stared at Amanda.

"What's wrong?" Amanda asked, legitimately concerned.

"I forgot my jelly bean!" Alexa said softly, with mock horror.

We all started cracking up, especially Amanda. She practically collapsed into Alexa's arms as she doubled over in laughter.

"I'm hungry," Jessica announced, snapping us back to attention.

"Me too," Claire chimed in.

"There's a Chick Fil-A in the food court," I suggested with a smile. They knew 'The Drill' as well as I did.

"Are we executing The Drill?" Alexa asked me. I nodded. The Drill had never worked before, but I had a feeling it would today.

In the first real silence we'd experienced together today, we walked to the food court and into the Chick Fil-A. The first person I noticed was the cashier. She was a young, pretty, woman with a contagious smile. I felt a small pang of disappointment. We'd end up ticking off the cashier with The Drill, so why couldn't it be a grumpy old man like the candy store?

As usual, Alexa was the first to reach the counter.

"Hey! I'll have a chicken sandwich with ketchup, and an order of unsalted fries," she said. The cashier entered her order as Alexa stepped back.

The rest of us ordered and paid, and I went to find an open table. Thankfully, there was a vacated circular booth with cushioned seats in the corner. I led Jessica, Amanda, and Claire to the booth while Alexa waited for the food.

While we waited, Claire decided to spark a conversation.

"So, how's the first week of school been for you guys?" she asked.

Jessica responded first. "Great! Everyone is really nice this year. I wish Brandon would ask me out, though," she said dreamily.

"Brandon Sparks, that guy?" I asked. Brandon Sparks was a short, brown-haired kid who was a bunch of the same classes as Jessica and I. He was a little attractive, I guess, but I'd never thought of him as a potential boyfriend. He was really nice and smiled a lot, so it wasn't hard to be friends with him. Brandon wasn't regarded as a 'cool kid', but he was probably my favorite male friend in the school. Most of the popular guys pissed me off, anyways.

"Yeah, him," Jessica responded.

As if just realizing what Jessica said, Amanda sat forward. "How long have you liked him?" she asked.

"Um, just this week." Claire and I nodded. I silently wished that Jessica would get her wish. Brandon was a great guy, and Jessica deserved someone like him.

Claire spoke up, "That's-" before being interrupted by Alexa, who was holding a tray of food.

"What'd I miss?" she said, setting the tray down. She slid into the booth right next to Jessica.

"Nothing," Jessica responded, a little too quickly. Alexa raised her eyebrows.

"She said she likes Brandon," Claire said, smiling.

Alexa looked at Jessica. "That's awesome! Has he asked you out?" she asked, grinning. Jessica shook her head.

"I wish he would, though," she said with a sigh.

"Does he know?" Alexa pressed. Jessica shook her head again.

"Tell him, then! He's always staring you, Jess. I'm certain he likes you back."

"Maybe.." Jessica muttered uncertainly. Being shy had its benefits, but it was hard when it came to dealing with boys. I know I never would've gotten up the courage to tell Iggy I liked him. I was glad I had a boyfriend who wasn't scared of taking on the world, much less asking me out.

"The Drill," Amanda suddenly reminded us. We all stood up and walked to the front of the store. We organized ourselves into a neat line with Alexa in the middle.

"PEOPLE!" Alexa yelled, effectively garnering attention. Nearly everyone's heads turned our way.

"DO THE CHICKEN DANCE!" she screamed. At once, my friends and I broke into the chicken dance. We yelled 'na na na na na' in the song's tune as we danced.

The effect was instantaneous. At first, only a group of maybe fifteen kids joined us. Just as enthusiastically as we were, they danced and screamed along.

After a minute, teenagers and even some young adults stood up and did their best to follow along. Even the cashier and mascot joined us.

It was actually working! In our first two attempts, nobody joined and we just looked plain stupid. This time, people were actually dancing along.

Within a few minutes, at least fifty customers had put their dignity aside enough to stand up and do the dance. No restraint was exercised as everyone rocked the restaurant.

* * *

**Mall Policeman's POV**

_Na na na na na na na!_

I tensed. What the hell was going on? I turned a corner and looked down the hallway. I didn't believe my eyes.

I reluctantly trudged towards the mess that was Chick Fil-A, wishing to never have to set foot in that store again.

* * *

**I really liked this chapter. It was a blast to write. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it!**

**Question: Do you like Ella's OC friends?**


	12. A Typical Girl Sleepover

**Disclaimer: MR doesn't belong to me. JP owns it. **

**Sorry for the short and suckish chapter. Just wanted to speed things up in getting to the real plot. **

* * *

After a loud, tiring ten minutes, we sat back down in the booth, pretending nothing happened. Everyone had returned to their normal business, whether it be eating, talking, or waiting in line. It was a good thing we looked inconspicuous, since a mall policeman decided to walk in the store just then. He probably heard the noise we made and was coming to investigate.

Unfortunately for him, there was nothing left to investigate. There was no way he could tell that the place was in absolute chaos two minutes ago besides video evidence. And what kind of policeman resorts to professional means of arresting chicken dancers?

With a loud sigh, he left the store, having wasted ten minutes of his life. My friends noticed his endeavors as well and laughed. These past hours had to have been the laughingest hours of our lives, by far. We'd managed quite a few stunts in just one evening. We'd pulled hilarious pranks before, but tonight outstripped them all.

As we finished the final remains of our food, an announcement came through the mall loudspeaker system.

_The mall will be closing in thirty minutes. Please make your way to an exit as soon as possible. _

All in good time. We were done with our business here and were ready to go home anyways. Claire's dad was waiting for us in the front lot.

"How was it, girls?" Mr. Rothfleisch asked us, unperturbed by our strange lack of purchases. Claire usually went home with no less than a hundred dollars of clothing. Today, besides the food, we spent one cent total among us. Alexa didn't even get the product she paid for. Well, she actually got $19.99 for free, due to the carelessness of the stupid cashier.

"Fun!" Alexa answered quickly. Unlike Max, Claire actually had a cool dad not intent on killing innocent beings. He didn't press Claire for anything, but openly engaged with us in conversation. He was actually really nice to talk to.

"Why didn't you guys get anything? Not that I'm complaining, of course," Mr. Rothfleisch asked. Nobody said anything for a few awkward moments.

"By the way, what was with the riot in there? I heard people inside shouting from the parking lot," Claire's dad said, turning around in his seat.

We looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.

Amanda spoke up, "We-um-some people were doing the chicken dance and shouting."

Mr. Rothfleisch, with his dad powers, knew that we were part of the so-called riot, but he didn't press us. Thankfully.

After a few quiet minutes, we pulled into Claire's driveway. Even though I'd been there a thousand times, I couldn't help noticing how big Claire's house was. It was at least three times larger than my house, and mine wasn't small at all. The entire Flock fit just fine.

We left the car, with our overnight bags, and headed inside. The foyer branched out to three short hallways, which led to other rooms. The house sometimes almost seemed like a labyrinth.

Claire led us down the left hallway to her room. When she opened the door, the first thing I noticed was the walls. They were completely covered in One Direction posters, so you could barely see the walls. Ugh. How did Claire like that stupid band? Apparently, Alexa wondered the same thing as me.

"Oh my goodness. One Direction is, like, _so_ last year. They're not even that hot!" Alexa remarked.

Claire's jaw dropped open. "Not even that hot? They're like God's gift to girls!" Alexa rolled her eyes, but didn't bother arguing.

We sat down on Claire's beanbag cushions. It wasn't ten seconds after I got settled before Jessica asked me what she had been intending to all this time.

"So, Ells, are you gonna tell us about Iggy?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. As if under a spell, Claire, Alexa, and Amanda immediately perked up.

"Um, sure. What do you want to know?" I replied.

"What does he look like?" Amanda asked quickly.

"Um, reddish-blonde hair, blue eyes, about six feet, and really hot."

Alexa raised her hand. "Have you guys kissed yet?" I felt my face immediately redden.

"Yeah. A few times, actually."

Amanda jumped up, off her chair, "Is he good? Is he good?!" she asked, more or less hyperventilating.

"Yep. He's amazing," I replied.

"How was that date last Tuesday?" Alexa asked.

I smiled at the memories. "It was awesome. We went to the Italian restaurant next to Jessica's house. After, we went home and climbed to the roof." Everyone was watching me with intense interest now, carefully picking up every word I said. I continued, "We kissed a few times, and he officially asked me to be his girlfriend."

Amanda tackled me in a bear hug, knocking me off my chair. "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier!?" she shrieked. I tried my best to shrug with Amanda on top of me.

Jessica, who had been watching me calmly the entire time, spoke up, "So, how's it like living in the same house as your boyfriend?"

"It's actually pretty awesome. I can spend a ton of time with him. Plus, I can ask him to take me to the roof whenever," I answered. I internally cursed myself for my mistake. Take me to the roof? My friends know that I'm perfectly capable of climbing a ladder.

Amanda sighed wistfully. "I am SO jealous of you, Ellie Bear. By the way, did you guys go to the roof any other time?"

"Um, yeah. We went up yesterday. We kissed a few times, and I even managed to get his shirt off," I replied.

"Is he ripped?" Claire asked.

I nodded. "Really ripped. Anyways, he did the same to me, but Max caught us. Right when he pried off my shirt, Max came up to the roof and yelled at Iggy. We had to go back inside after."

Jessica stared at me. "I thought you said that you wouldn't let Iggy do anything stupid!"

"Chillax, Jessie! He didn't do anything."

"Fine. But don't let him do that again, Ellie." I rolled my eyes and got back on my chair.

"So," I said, "are you guys up for a movie?" I felt like my friends had enough of Iggy talk and decided to change the subject.

"Yeah, sure. What do you guys wanna watch?" Jessica said, still on the ground after tackling me.

"We'll decide later," Claire suggested, "by the way, sleeping bags are in the movie theater." The theater! I had just about forgotten that Claire's dad owned an awesome movie theater.

Alexa stood up and took several steps down the hallway before turning around. "Which way is it again?" she questioned.

"I'll show you," Claire said with a laugh. She led us down several narrow, brightly lit hallways, eventually reaching the theater. The house would've been perfect for a military training base or something, with all the twists and turns.

When we got to the theater, Claire directed us to the closet where we first picked out our sleeping bags. I grabbed a fluffy pink one from the top shelf. We all dragged them to the large carpeted area void of chairs directly in front of the massive movie screen. It was truly massive, stretching at least fourteen feet diagonally.

"The Lightning Thief? Anyone?" Jessica suggested.

"Yeah, sure! Logan Lerman is _so_ hot!" Alexa said. "Much hotter than One Direction!" she added, directed at Claire. She shrugged in response.

Claire grabbed her laptop to rent the movie. After a few minutes, she managed to get the movie up on the screen.

A soon as she did, though, Amanda stood up.

"We forgot the ice cream!" she announced, going to the kitchen. A few minutes later, we all had a carton of ice cream and a spoon.

Whenever Luke Castellan appeared on the screen, Alexa would smirk at me and mouth, "IGGY!" They did look alike, though.

After the first movie, I was ready to drop. It wasn't even midnight yet, but the mall really wore me out.

"Guys, I'm turning in," I announced.

"Okay," Alexa said, "but I'm staying up." The others nodded their agreement with Alexa.

"Sounds good," I said, entering my sleeping bag. It took a while to fall asleep, with all the noise my friends were making, but I eventually dozed off. It felt great after all the recent activity.


	13. Forgetting Something, Fang?

**I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**Sorry about the short chapter, but this was necessary. I'm interested in getting the plot moving.**

**Fang's POV (Takes place same day as Ella's friends crashing the mall)**

I woke up, having dreaded this day for the past week. I had wished it wouldn't come, but of course it did. I climbed out of bed, hoping in vain that Tuesday was nothing but a nightmare.

It felt like so long ago: Brigid pestering me in science class, and then asking me out in the hallway. Me freezing up and giving in. Max flying away and nearly getting herself killed. In reality, it all happened in less than a week.

This week felt so action-packed, even compared to our days on the run, even though we only had one near-death experience. Well, Max had two.

I still couldn't believe how stupid I was. I agreed to go out with an annoying, skanky slut at school. I could fight Erasers without a problem, but I couldn't even say a simple no?

The worst part was that I pretty much killed any chance I had with Max. She may have liked me before, but she probably thinks I'm going to ride off into the sunset and marry Brigid. In reality, I didn't even want to get within fifty feet of her, much less date her. But I had no choice. Fang doesn't back down from promises.

Well, maybe I could just this once. Max told me that she and Jonathan were going somewhere, and I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't.

I loved Max.

Suddenly, it hit me. I needed her more than I'd admit, and I knew she needed me. We were meant to be together, and we both knew it. But we were too busy screwing things up to realize our love.

This was it. I was done being the shy guy in the background, the silent pushover. I was going to confess my love to Max TODAY, and be done with it. Regardless of what she would say, I wouldn't have to live not knowing what we felt about each other. Even if Max liked Jonathan, I wouldn't have to endure more confusion and denial. I could just kill myself and be done with it.

* * *

At around 5:00, I saw Max sitting alone on the couch. That was my chance

"Hey, Max, I gotta tell you something."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is it about Brigid? If so, I don't want to hear it."

"No, no, it's not about that. What I wanted to tell you was that I-I-"I choked out. No..this couldn't be happening. I practiced for so long in my room today, only to screw it up?

"What did you want to tell me, Fang?" Max said with a grin, standing up. Her soft eyes literally froze me in place.

"I-I-I lo.." I trailed off. This was useless. Why did I even try this in the first place? I couldn't gather the courage to confess to her, and I should've known it.

"I love you too, Fang," she whispered, wrapping her arms around me.

_Max loves me._

I immediately felt dizzy, but it was in a good way. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she actually loved me, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I could live in this blissful state forever.

"Maaaxxx…" I whispered, dragging her to the couch with me. I enveloped her in my arms and crashed my lips to hers. She leaned backwards at first, not expecting it, but she responded within a second. Her lips moved in sync with mine as she pulled me closer. I couldn't describe how I felt. Let me just say that Taylor Swift was right when she saw sparks fly.

Wait, how did I even know that song?

Anyways, we pulled away from each other after a few minutes. Being part bird, we could hold our breaths for a long time, but we still did need air. Exhausted, we lay down on the couch, Max on top of me.

I suddenly had a flashback of when we caught Iggy and Ella sleeping on the couch together. Just like Iggy, that was a minor concern when placed next to spending time with Max.

Max and I lay on the couch together for several hours, savoring each other's presence. Suddenly, I remembered something.

I had a date with Brigid.

I was due at the theater an hour ago.

Oops.


	14. Author's Note

**First: I'd like to apologize for this. I know you all thought it'd be a chapter, but it's a necessary Author's Note.**

**Before anybody gets worried, I promise I'll finish this story. Updates may be a little farther apart, say, 2 weeks, but it'll get done. I promise.**

**I've decided to focus more of my writing energy on my newer story, A New Beginning. It's an all-human story about Max and Fang running away and meeting each other. If you liked this story, I know you'll love ANB even more. If you didn't like this story, I still think you'll like it. Much of it is relatable to many people's lives, and it's full of genuine human feelings. Not really a tear-jerker, but still an emotion-based story nonetheless. If you have a minute, please check it out. It's a ton better than Wings, in my opinion. **

**Sorry to everybody. I honestly have lost a little inspiration for writing this story. I'll do my best to make sure the last chapters are the best ones, though. There are currently 13 chapters, and I'm thinking about maybe 20 total. More or less. **

**Fly on!**


End file.
